2021 Portsmouth City Council election

Elections to Portsmouth City Council will take place on Thursday 6 May 2021, alongside other local elections across the country.

2021 Portsmouth City Council election
6 May 2021
14 of the 42 seats to Portsmouth City Council
22 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Con
Leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson Donna Jones Stephen Morgan
Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Labour
Leader's seat Milton Hilsea Charles Dickens
Last election 8 (2016) 4 (2016) 2 (2016)
Seats before 17 15 6
Council control before election

No Overall Control (Lib Dem minority)

 Council control after election

TBD

The seats contested in this election were last contested in 2016. The election was originally due to take place on 7 May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] One seat from each ward will be up for election.

Background

Elections to Portsmouth council since 2012 have proven to have volatile and changing results, with eleven of the city’s fourteen wards voting for different parties each year.[2] Following the 2018 election in Portsmouth, Gerald Vernon-Jackson became leader of the council and has led the council in a minority administration.[3]

Changes between 2019 and 2021

Immediately after the previous elections, in May 2019, the composition of the council was:

↓
18 6 16 2
Liberal Democrats Labour Conservative I

In July 2019, a Liberal Democrat councillor, Jeanette Smith, who was elected in 2018 quit the party. She had been a member of the Lib Dems for two years, having previously been a member of the Labour Party. [4]

In September 2019, Jeanette Smith and one of the other independent councillors, Claire Udy, who had ran for election as a member of the Labour Party but had quit shortly before the election, after nominations were closed, citing a lack of support from the local party while under investigation by the National Executive Committee,[5][6]
formed a new grouping called the Progressive Portsmouth People group. [7]

In April 2020, Conservative councillor Lee Mason was suspended from the party, after baking a hot cross bun that appeared to have a swastika ‘emblazoned’ on it over Easter.[8] He was reinstated in August 2020. [9]

In June 2020, Conservative councillor Linda Symes was suspended from the party, after appearing to question why there were demonstrations over the death of George Floyd during the Black Lives Matter protests and yet not over the murder of Lee Rigby or the death of seven-year-old Emily Jones. Although she insisted she was 'not being racist' and that 'every life matters’. In another post on Facebook, Symes shared a comment about the mayor of London which said: “Because of his ethnicity Khan (Sadiq) will remain Mayor.” [10] [11]

As of October 2020, the composition of the council is as follows:

↓
17 6 15 2 2
Liberal Democrats Labour Conservative P I

Results by ward

Comparisons for the purpose of determining a gain, hold or loss of a seat, and for all percentage changes, is to the last time these specific seats were up for election in 2016. An asterisk indicates the incumbent councillor.

References
  1. "Statement on the UK Government's decision to postpone May's polls". The Electoral Commission. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. Andrew Teale (28 April 2019). "Long Read: The 2019 Local Elections". Britain Elects. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  3. "Lib Dem Gerald Vernon-Jackson wins Portsmouth council leadership". BBC News. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  4. https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/politics/portsmouth-councillor-quits-lib-dems-believing-partys-decisions-not-made-benefit-community-1312995
  5. "Claire Udy Resignation". Claire Udy. 27 April 2018.
  6. "Claire Udy Statement". Claire Udy. 27 April 2018.
  7. https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/politics/independent-portsmouth-councillors-form-own-group-support-local-campaigners-1309460
  8. https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/politics/swastika-hot-cross-bun-row-sees-portsmouth-conservative-councillor-lee-mason-suspended-tory-party-2539985
  9. https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/politics/swastika-hot-cross-bun-tory-councillor-lee-mason-reinstated-conservative-party-2955122
  10. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/10/tory-councillors-accused-of-racist-posts-on-social-media
  11. https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/politics/portsmouth-politician-under-fire-undeniably-racist-social-media-posts-2873870
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