Summary

  • Council and police and crime commissioner elections held across the region

  • Conservatives gain Southampton and hold on to Hampshire

  • Labour keep control of Reading and Oxford

  • Other areas expected to declare over the weekend and Monday

  • PCC elections held in Dorset, Hampshire and the Thames Valley

  1. Conservative elected Hampshire police commissionerpublished at 08:20 British Summer Time 11 May 2021

    Donna Jones is elected the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

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  2. Conservatives vote in new county party leaderpublished at 06:47 British Summer Time 11 May 2021

    Eddie Reeves replaces Ian Hudspeth as leader of Oxfordshire's county council Conservatives.

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  3. Lib Dems and Labour in council coalition talkspublished at 06:10 British Summer Time 11 May 2021

    The leadership of Oxfordshire County Council is yet to be decided after no party won a majority.

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  4. Counting continues on Thames Valleypublished at 15:50 British Summer Time 10 May 2021

    Bethan Nimmo
    Political reporter, BBC Radio Oxford

    This is at Spiceball Leisure Centre in Banbury, where the announcement will be. But the count is taking place in 13 places across the region.

    Spiceball Leisure Centre
  5. Tories to review transport plan after council winpublished at 14:54 British Summer Time 10 May 2021

    The new leader of Southampton City Council says the £18.5m plan will be reviewed immediately.

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  6. Labour retaining majority in Slough is a 'great result,' says MPpublished at 11:39 British Summer Time 10 May 2021

    The Labour Party has retained its majority in Slough.

    Slough Labour Group had 11 councillors out of 14 voted in, with the party gaining a seat in Upton.

    Two seats in Foxborough and Langley Kederminster were lost to the Conservatives and councillor Madhuri Bedi retained her seat, but this time as an Independent.

    Reacting to the win, Slough MP Tan Dhesi said: “I am extremely grateful for the good people of Slough for continuing to bestow their trust.

    “Within the very difficult national context, I think it is a great result for the Slough Labour Party and we will continue to work hard on your behalf."

    Slough Borough Council is now made up of 35 Labour, five Conservative, and two Independent councillors.

  7. Conservatives retain majority in West Oxfordshirepublished at 10:15 British Summer Time 10 May 2021

    The Conservatives have retained their majority on West Oxfordshire District Council.They lost one seat overall, the Liberal Democrats gained a seat, Labour stay on eight seats and the first Green Party councillor has been elected to the council.

    Andrew Prosser took a seat in Witney North off the Conservatives.

  8. Conservatives hold Cherwell District Councilpublished at 10:15 British Summer Time 10 May 2021

    There were no big surprises at Cherwell count with all parties holding their seats.

    The results leave the Conservatives in control of the council with 31 seats, Labour hold onto nine and the Liberal Democrats three.There are four independent seats and one for the Green Party.

  9. Analysis: 'Pretty disastrous' result for the Toriespublished at 19:18 British Summer Time 9 May 2021

    Bethan Nimmo
    Political reporter, BBC Radio Oxford

    Even though Oxfordshire County Council went into this election as no overall control and comes out of it the same, that really doesn’t tell the full story.

    For the Conservatives to have lost nine seats, including leader Ian Hudspeth’s division of Woodstock, is pretty disastrous.

    On the other hand, it was undeniably a very good day for the Liberal Democrats and Greens who picked up eight and three seats, respectively.

    Going forward, it is not clear who will be running the council – there will certainly have to be a coalition of some sort to make a majority.

    It is further complicated by a legal challenge of the result in the Banbury Ruscote ward by Labour, where the party unexpectedly lost a seat to the Conservatives.

    If that is overturned, it would leave the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats with exactly 21 seats each.

  10. Oxfordshire County Council stays no overall controlpublished at 18:56 British Summer Time 9 May 2021

    The results are in for the Oxfordshire County Council elections and it remains no overall control.

    The Conservatives remain the largest party - but only by one seat, having lost nine.

    Labour has also confirmed it is mounting a legal challenge after unexpectedly losing a seat in Banbury to the Conservatives.

    If that result is overturned, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives would both have 21 seats.

    Here are the final results, compared to the 2017 election.

    Conservatives: 22 (-9)

    Lib Dems: 21 (+8)

    Labour: 15 (+1)

    Green: 3 (+3)

    Independent: 1 (-3)

    Henley Residents Group: 1

  11. 'I'm really disappointed', says Hudspeth as he bows outpublished at 15:33 British Summer Time 9 May 2021

    Speaking after losing his seat in the Oxfordshire County Council elections, Ian Hudspeth said: “Obviously I’m really disappointed.

    "I’ve loved representing the residents of Woodstock for the past 16 years, I felt that I’d done a good job for them.

    "But obviously they’ve decided they want change and I accept it because I’m a democrat and I believe in the democratic process."

  12. Analysis: Nightmare scenario for Toriespublished at 15:33 British Summer Time 9 May 2021

    Bethan Nimmo
    Political reporter, BBC Radio Oxford

    This is turning into a nightmare scenario for the Conservatives.

    Not only are they losing ground to the Liberal Democrats in key seats like Otmoor, Faringdon and Eynsham, now they've also lost their leader.

    Ian Hudspeth has headed up the authority since May 2012 - through turbulent times, including multimillion-pound cuts.

    His defeat will send shockwaves through the local Conservative party.

    And it's at a time when they are likely to come out of the election as the largest party - but without an overall majority.

    That means they will have to team up with other parties and independents if they want to continue running the council.

    But with results going as they are, they may even lose control to a coalition of opposition parties.

  13. Tory leader of Oxfordshire County Council loses seatpublished at 15:19 British Summer Time 9 May 2021

    The Conservative leader of Oxfordshire County Council, Ian Hudspeth, has lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats.

    He has been leader of the authority since May 2012.

    The council is currently No Overall Control and the Tories have lost three seats to the Liberal Democrats so far in this election.

    Around half of seats are still to declare.

  14. Conservatives win majority on Southampton councilpublished at 21:26 British Summer Time 8 May 2021

    The party keeps its majority on Hampshire County Council after results were delayed by a fire alarm.

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  15. Labour holds on to its majority in Readingpublished at 18:54 British Summer Time 8 May 2021

    Just one seat changes hands, with the Green Party winning by 10 votes.

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  16. Southampton City Council final wards countedpublished at 17:01 British Summer Time 8 May 2021

    Maria Zaccaro
    Local Democracy Reporting Service

    Tensions are running high in Southampton as the election count is under way.

    A number of wards across the city turned blue leaving Labour and the Conservatives with 22 seats each.

    Votes for the final four wards are now being counted and the final results are expected to be announced in the next couple of hours.

    It comes as 16 seats at Southampton City Council are up for grabs.

    So far Labour retained seats in Bargate, Bevois, Freemantle and Portswood but lost Bitterne, Coxford, Millbrook, Peartree and Redbridge to the Tories.

    Votes for Shirley, Sholing, Swaythling and Woolston are currently being counted.

    Among the councillors who have just been elected there are Jeremy Moulton, the former leader of the Conservatives who lost his seat in the 2018 elections, and Amanda Guest, who campaigned against the proposed closure of Kentish Road respite centre.

    Meanwhile, Dave Shields, former cabinet member for stronger communities and Darren Paffey, former cabinet member for children learning and education, retained their seats in Freemantle and Bargate respectively.

    There are 48 seats in total with 25 needed for a majority.

  17. Covid restrictions delay Portsmouth resultspublished at 16:40 British Summer Time 8 May 2021

    by Fiona Callingham, Local Democracy Reporter

    Portsmouth Guildhall

    A year since local elections nationwide were postponed for 12 months, Covid-19 is still having an effect on how democracy is carried out.

    In Portsmouth the polling, verification and counting have been spread out over three days – rather than the usual 24-hour rush that sees results coming through in the early hours of the morning.

    And social distancing measures have had an impact on how the counting is carried out.

    In pre-Covid days the results for all 14 wards in Portsmouth would be counted in one room – the auditorium at the Guildhall.

    But this time around the count was spread across four rooms and split into three shifts to ensure the safety of those involved.

    Chief executive of Portsmouth City Council and its returning officer, David Williams, said: "It has been a very different experience this year.

    "Obviously it’s not just the count, it’s the set-up at the polling stations and making sure all staff have PPE.

    "We also need to make sure all the voters are properly protected throughout the process.

    "It means the count is distributed across rooms. Usually it has a buzz about it, with the room full of candidates and agents.

    "This is a much more subdued affair. ‘But I’m pleased to say it’s gone incredibly efficiently and well.

    "A huge credit goes to the hours and hours of work by the amazing staff."

  18. Southampton City Council results so farpublished at 15:39 British Summer Time 8 May 2021

    Maria Zaccaro
    Local Democracy Reporting Service

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  19. Deselected councillor wins Oxford seatpublished at 15:28 British Summer Time 8 May 2021

    Bethan Nimmo
    Political reporter, BBC Radio Oxford

    Linda Smith for Labour has been elected to the Lye Valley seat on Oxford City Council.

    Interestingly, she was previously deselected from her seat in Blackbird Leys - she said it was an organised operation by Momentum (which they denied).

  20. New faces for Isle of Wight Councilpublished at 12:12 British Summer Time 8 May 2021

    Louise Hill
    Local Democracy Reporting Service

    Voters on the Isle of Wight have voted in a new set of councillors to lead the council.

    Overall, voter turnout on the Island for the authority’s election was 36.93% - down by almost 4% on the previous 2017 election.

    With boundary changes, made by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England ahead of this year’s May elections, it is not quite as straight forward to say who has won, lost or gained seats.

    However, the once-ruling Conservative party lost seven seats and won back three but failed to gain a majority with only 18 successfully won seats.

    Two of the Conservative seats fell to the Green Party, with new councillors Claire Critchison (Chale, Niton and Shorwell) and Joe Lever (Carisbrooke and Gunville), who have both previously stood before for the authority, taking the places.

    Speaking after the decision, Ms Critchison said: “It was a bit of a surprise, being a two-horse race, but we went with it and I am really pleased the residents of the ward wanted me to do it.”Another new face will be in Binstead and Fishbourne, where Independent Ian Dore took the seat from Conservative hopeful Ed Hopper and Simon Cooke.

    Former Isle of Wight Council leader, Jonathan Bacon, is also back, gaining his seat in Brading and St Helens.

    Conservative Martin Oliver won the Mountjoy and Shide ward for the party, defeating well-known Independent Shirley Smart by 159 votes.

    In a head-to-head Labour versus Conservative battle, for Cowes North, the former parliamentary candidate Richard Quigley turned the ward red, gaining the ward from the blues, by 35 votes.

    Gaining a single seat, the new Vectis Party leader Daryll Pitcher took Wootton Bridge from Conservative Barry Abraham, with a 175-vote lead.

    The Island Independent Network also got a second seat in County Hall, with Karen Lucioni winning Ryde Monktonmead from the Conservatives earning a 161-vote gap over second place.

    In newly-formed wards Central Rural and Ryde South East, Conservatives Suzie Ellis and Warren Drew took the seats.

    No one party has a majority of seats at the moment, with talks thought to have been started to determine a coalition and a way ahead between the parties for a new make-up of the local authority.