Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council
Portsmouth City Council
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Founded	1 April 1997
Preceded by	Hampshire County Council
Leadership
Lord Mayor	Jason Fazackarley, ; Liberal Democrat ; since 14 May 2024
Leader	Steve Pitt, ; Liberal Democrat ; since 16 May 2023
Chief Executive	Natalie Brahma-Pearl ; since 2023
Structure
Seats	42 councillors
Political groups	Administration(19) Liberal Democrats (19) Opposition (23) Labour (9) PIP (9) Conservative (4) Independent (1)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	2 May 2024
Next election	2026
Motto
	Heaven's Light Our Guide
Meeting place
	The Guildhall, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth
Website
	www.portsmouth.gov.uk

Portsmouth City Council is the local authority of the city of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services, including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, town planning, waste collection, and disposal, and it is a local education authority.

History

Portsmouth had been an ancient borough. In 1836, it underwent reform to become a municipal borough, ruled by a body also known as the town council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Portsmouth was considered large enough to run its own services, so it was made a county borough, independent from Hampshire County Council.^[3]

Portsmouth was granted city status on 21 April 1926, after which the corporation was also known as Portsmouth City Council.^[4] The powers of the council were substantially reformed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, becoming a non-metropolitan district with Hampshire County Council providing county-level services to the city. Portsmouth regained its independence from Hampshire County Council on 1 April 1997, when it was made a unitary authority.^[5]

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent legislation. For the purposes of local government, Portsmouth is within a non-metropolitan area of England. As a unitary authority, Portsmouth City Council has the powers and functions of both a non-metropolitan county and a district council combined. In its capacity as a district council, it is a billing authority, collecting council tax and business rates; processing local planning applications; and it is responsible for housing, waste collection, Trading Standards, and environmental health. It functions as a Port Health Authority for its surrounding waters.^[6] In its capacity as a unitary council, it is a local education authority, responsible for social services, libraries, and waste disposal.

The council adopted a pledge in 2022, known as the "Portsmouth Pledge", whereby it set out a number of commitments to look after children in its care.^[7]

Political composition

Portsmouth City Council consists of 42 councillors, with one third of the council being elected every four years, electing one out of three councillors for each of the city's 14 wards.

The following parties have held political sway over the council since its first election in 1973:

Party in control
Non-metropolitan district
	Conservative	1973–1990^[8]
	No overall control	1990–1995
	Labour	1995–1997
Unitary authority
	Labour	1996–2000
	No overall control	2000–2009^[9]^[10]
	Liberal Democrats	2009–2014^[11]
	No overall control (Conservative Administration)	2014–2018^[12]
	No overall control (Liberal Democrat Administration)	2018–present^[13]

Councillors and wards

List of Portsmouth city councillors by ward:^[14]

	Councillor	Term in office	Notes
Baffins	Darren Sanders	2021–24	Sanders was his party's candidate in the 2001, 2010, 2015, and 2017 general elections in the Portsmouth North constituency, and his party's candidate in the 2005 general election in the Streatham constituency. Cabinet Member for Housing and Tackling Homelessness.
Baffins	Abdul Kadir	2022–26
Baffins	Leone Oliver	2023-27
Central Southsea	Charlotte Gerada	2021–24	Leader of the Labour Group
Central Southsea	George Fielding	2022–26
Central Southsea	Suzy Horton	2019–23	Deputy Group Leader; Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education.
Charles Dickens	Kirsty Mellor	2021–24
Charles Dickens	Yinka Adeniran	2022–26
Charles Dickens	Cal Corkery	2023–27
Copnor	Lewis Gosling	2021–24
Copnor	Ben Swann	2022–26
Copnor	Robert New	2019–23
Cosham	Asghar Shah	2022–26
Cosham	Mary Vallely	2023–27
Cosham	Matthew Atkins	2021–24
Drayton & Farlington	Ryan Brent	2021–24	Conservative Deputy Group Leader
Drayton & Farlington	Simon Bosher	2022–26	Conservative Group Leader
Drayton & Farlington	Hannah Brent	2019–23
Eastney & Craneswater	John Smith	2021–24
Eastney & Craneswater	Matthew Winnington	2022–26	Winnington was his party's candidate for Fareham in the 2015, 2017, and 2019 general elections.
Eastney & Craneswater	Peter Candish	2019–23
Fratton	Stuart Brown	2021–24
Fratton	Tom Coles	2022–26	Lord Mayor
Fratton	Dave Ashmore	2019–23	Cabinet Member for Community Safety & Environment.
Hilsea	Daniel Wemyss	2021–24
Hilsea	Russell Simpson	2022–26
Hilsea	Scott Payter-Harris	2019–23
Milton	Kimberly Barrett	2021–24	Cabinet Member for Climate Change and the Green Recovery.
Milton	Steve Pitt	2022–24	Leader of the council and of the Liberal Democrats group since 2023. Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Economic Development
Milton	Gerald Vernon-Jackson	2019–23	Formerly Liberal Democrats group leader and leader of the council since 2018. Vernon-Jackson was his party's candidate for Portsmouth South in the 2015 and 2017 general elections. Former Portsmouth Council Leader from 2004 to 2014.
Nelson	Leo Madden	2021–24	Former Leader of the Council from 1994-2000, and again from 2001-2002.
Nelson	Jason Fazackarley	2022–26	Deputy Lord Mayor. Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing & Social Care.
Nelson	Lee Hunt	2019–23	Cabinet Member for Community Safety
Paulsgrove	George Madgwick	2021–24
Paulsgrove	Brian Madgwick	2022–26
Paulsgrove	Gemma New	2019–23
St Jude	Hugh Mason	2021–24	Cabinet Member for Planning Policy & City Development.
St Jude	Judith Smyth	2022–26
St Jude	Graham Heaney	2019–23
St Thomas	Ian Holder	2021–24
St Thomas	Mark Jeffrey	2022–26
St Thomas	Chris Attwell	2019–23	Cabinet Member for Communities and Central Services.