Lib Dems win overall majority in Portsmouth City Council elections
They've won their first overall majority since 2012
The people of Portsmouth signalled their views “in spades” tonight after strengthening the Liberal Democrats in the local elections, says the party’s joyful leader.
The Portsmouth City Council local elections have concluded, with the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK making most of the gains.
The Liberal Democrats have increased their representation from 18 seats to 22, giving them an overall majority on the 42-seat council.
They also successfully defended three seats, including those of council leader Steve Pitt in Milton, Matthew Winnington in Eastney and Craneswater, and Abdul Kadir in Baffins.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Pitt said it was “an amazing night” for his party, which has secured its first overall majority since 2012.
“It’s a brilliant endorsement for everything that we do, trying to run the city well, manage our finances, fighting against local government reorganisation and the best interests of the people in the city and protecting services from cuts,” he said.
“We’ve made the most gains in the city while others have gone backwards or done nowhere near as well as they thought they would.”
Reform UK gained two seats and defended two, increasing its representation from 10 seats to 12. The party had been expected to make further gains, particularly in the north of the city.
When asked why Reform had not performed as well as expected, Cllr Pitt said: “Portsmouth is a forward-looking place and I think that feeling has been pushed down a bit by certain narratives on social media over the last year.
“Ultimately residents decide how they want to signal their views at the ballot box and they did that tonight in spades.”
He said he had dealt with “all sorts of issues” over the last year, including “personal attacks”, but expressed surprise at recording “the largest vote for a Liberal Democrat candidate in the city in any ward outside of a general election”.
He added his administration would “continue to work cross-party where we can” and said: “My door is open, if people need help to support the residents in their wards, they can come and talk to me.”
Labour failed to defend any of its five seats.
The Conservatives lost the Copnor ward to Reform UK but held Drayton and Farlington, with group leader Cllr Simon Bosher winning by a majority of 24 votes.
The political balance of the council now is Liberal Democrat 22, Reform 12, Labour four, Conservative three and one non-aligned independent.