City of Winchester

The City of Winchester (/ˈwɪnɪstər/) is a local government district in Hampshire, England, with city status.

City of Winchester
Coat of arms
Council logo
Winchester shown within Hampshire
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryEngland
RegionSouth East England
Non-metropolitan countyHampshire
StatusNon-metropolitan district, Borough, City time immemorial
Admin HQWinchester
Incorporated1 April 1974
Government
  TypeNon-metropolitan district council
  BodyWinchester City Council
  LeadershipLeader & Cabinet (Liberal Democrat)
  MPsSteve Brine
Flick Drummond
Area
  Total255.20 sq mi (660.97 km2)
Area rank60th (of 317)
Population
 (mid-2019 est.)
  Total124,859
  Rank185th (of 317)
  Density490/sq mi (190/km2)
  Ethnicity
97.8% White
Time zoneUTC0 (GMT)
  Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code24UP (ONS)
E07000094 (GSS)
OS grid referenceSU485295
Websitewww.winchester.gov.uk
The City Council's coat of arms, displayed in Winchester Guildhall

The district covers the ancient settlement of the city of Winchester itself, but also covers a large area of central Hampshire including Bishop's Waltham, Denmead, New Alresford, and Kings Worthy (for a full list of these, see the "Settlements and parishes" section below), for a total area of 255.2 square miles (661 km2). The 2011 Census recorded the population of the district as 116,600.[1]

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of the City of Winchester with Droxford Rural District and part of Winchester Rural District. It borders Basingstoke and Deane to the north, East Hampshire to the east, the Borough of Havant and the unitary authority area of Portsmouth to the south-east, the Borough of Fareham to the south, the Borough of Eastleigh to the south-west, and Test Valley to the west.

The city traces its history to the Roman Era, developing from the town of Venta Belgarum. It saw historic significance from its reconstruction under Alfred the Great in the 9th century, and grew in prominence until London replaced it as capital; Winchester saw a decline after plague swept the country, but began to recover from the 19th century.

Governance

Parliamentary constituencies

The City of Winchester is made up of two parliamentary constituencies. Winchester constituency covers the north-eastern part of the city, as well as Chandler's Ford, which is part of Eastleigh. The remainder constitutes Meon Valley, which also covers part of East Hampshire and Havant. Winchester constituency has been represented by Steve Brine since 2010, whilst Meon Valley has been represented by Flick Drummond since the 2019 general election.

Winchester City Council

Elections to the council are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the seats on the council being elected at each election. From 1995 to the 2004 election the Liberal Democrats had a majority on the council, but after 2 years when no party held a majority the 2006 election saw the Conservative party gain control.[2] The elections on 6 May 2010 saw the Liberal Democrats re take control of the council, however the council soon switched to NOC a year later in 2011. In 2012, the Conservative Party made their only Council gain of the entire English local elections and won a majority in Winchester once again.[3] Subsequently, two Conservative councillors defected to the Liberal Democrat group, placing the council under No Overall Control.[4] Following local elections on 7 May 2015, the Conservatives re-gained majority control of the council.[5] Since the 2016 council election, in which new boundaries were introduced, no other parties than the Conservative and Liberal Democrats have held seats on the council. After the local elections on 2 May 2019, the Liberal Democrats gained majority control. Three independent councillors were elected as Conservatives. Cllr Weston resigned from the party in late 2019.[6] Cllr Clementson was suspended from the party pending an investigation.[7] In November 2020 Alresford & Itchen Valley councillor Lisa Griffiths resigned from the Conservative Party to sit as an independent.[8] In September 2020, Liberal Democrat Councillor Kim Gottlieb (who joined the party after leaving the Conservatives) resigned as a Councillor, leaving one of the three St Michael seats vacant.

The council is currently led by a Liberal Democrat administration. The make up of the council as of November 2020 is:[6]

Ward Party Member Election
Alresford & Itchen Valley Independent Lisa Griffiths 2016
Liberal Democrat Margot Power 2018
Liberal Democrat Russel Gordon-Smith 2019
Badger Farm & Oliver's Battery Liberal Democrat Eleanor Bell 2016
Liberal Democrat Brian Laming 2018
Liberal Democrat Hannah Williams 2019
Bishops Waltham Conservative Rob Humby 2016
Conservative Steve Miller 2018
Conservative David Mclean 2019
Central Meon Valley Conservative Frank Pearson 2016
Conservative Linda Gemmel 2018
Independent Victoria Weston 2019
Colden Common and Twyford Conservative Susan Cook 2018
Liberal Democrat Tony Bronk 2019
Denmead Conservative Michael Read 2016
Conservative Caroline Brook 2018
Independent Judith Clementson 2019
Southwick and Wickham Liberal Democrat Angela Clear 2016
Liberal Democrat Neil Cutler 2018
Liberal Democrat Therese Evans 2019
St Barnabas Liberal Democrat Kelsie Learney 2016
Liberal Democrat Anne Weir 2018
Liberal Democrat Mike Craske 2019
St Bartholomew Liberal Democrat Dominic Hiscock 2016
Liberal Democrat Kathleen Becker 2018
Liberal Democrat Paula Ferguson 2019
St Luke Conservative Jamie Scott 2016
Liberal Democrat Derek Green 2019
St Michael Conservative Fiona Mather 2016
Liberal Democrat Lynda Murphy 2018
Vacant Vacant [note 1]
St Paul Liberal Democrat Liz Hutchinson 2016
Liberal Democrat Lucille Thompson 2018
Liberal Democrat Martin Tod 2019
The Worthys Liberal Democrat Jackie Porter 2016
Liberal Democrat Malcolm Prince 2018
Liberal Democrat Jane Rutter 2019
Upper Meon Valley Conservative Laurence Ruffell 2018
Conservative Hugh Lumby 2019
Whiteley & Shedfield Liberal Democrat Vivian Achwal 2016
Liberal Democrat Roger Bentote 2018
Liberal Democrat Johnathan Fern 2019
Wonston & Micheldever Conservative Stephen Godfrey 2016
Conservative Patrick Cunningham 2018
Conservative Caroline Horrill 2019

County Council

Hampshire County Council holds elections every four years. Several Councillors are members of both the City and County Councils. In the 2017 elections the Winchester City district area elected seven representatives, out of 78:

Ward Party Member[9]
Winchester Eastgate Liberal Democrat Dominic Charles Alan Hiscock
Winchester Downlands Conservative Jan Warwick
Winchester Westgate Liberal Democrat Martin Tod
Winchester Southern Parishes ConservativePatricia Stallard
Itchen Valley Liberal DemocratJackie Porter
Meon Valley ConservativeRoger Huxstep
Bishop's Waltham ConservativeRob Humby

Demographics

A Legatum Prosperity Index published by the Legatum Institute in October 2016 showed the City of Winchester as the third most prosperous council area in the United Kingdom, after the Borough of Waverley and Mole Valley.[10]

Settlements and parishes

Ward Boundaries in the City of Winchester following the 2016 boundary changes.[11]
1
Wonston and Micheldever
2
The Worthies
3
Alresford and Itchen Valley
4
St Paul (Winchester)
5
St Barnabas (Winchester)
6
St Bartholomew (Winchester)
7
St Luke (Winchester)
8
St Michael (Winchester)
9
Badger Farm and Oliver's Battery
10
Colden Common and Twyford
11
Upper Meon Valley
12
Bishop's Waltham
13
Central Meon Valley
14
Whiteley and Shedfield
15
Southwick and Wickham
16
Denmead

Settlements in the district include:

Parishes

Council Equivalent City Ward
Badger Farm Badger Farm & Olivers Battery
Beauworth Upper Meon Valley
Bighton Alresford & Itchen Valley
Bishop's Waltham Bishop's Waltham
Bishops Sutton Alresford & Itchen Valley
Boarhunt Southwick & Wicham
Bramdean & Hinton Ampner Upper Meon Valley
Cheriton Upper Meon Valley
Chilcomb Upper Meon Valley
Colden Common Colden Common & Twyford
Compton & Shawford Badger Farm & Oliver's Battery
Corhampton & Meonstoke Upper Meon Valley
Crawley Wonston & Micheldever
Curdridge Whiteley & Shedfield
Denmead Denmead
Droxford Central Meon Valley
Durley Bishop's Waltham
Exton Upper Meon Valley
Hambledon Central Meon Valley
Headbourne Worthy The Worthys
Hursley Badger Farm & Oliver's Battery
Itchen Stoke & Ovington Alresford & Itchen Valley
Itchen Valley Alresford & Itchen Valley
Kilmeston Upper Meon Valley
Kings Worthy The Worthys
Littleton and Harestock Wonston & Micheldever
Micheldever Wonston & Micheldever
New Alresford (Town) Alresford & Itchen Valley
Newlands Denmead
Southwick & Wickham
Northington Alresford & Itchen Valley
Old Alresford Alresford & Itchen Valley
Oliver's Battery Badger Farm & Oliver's Battery
Otterbourne Badger Farm & Oliver's Battery
Owslebury Upper Meon Valley
Shedfield Whiteley & Shedfield
Central Meon Valley
Soberton Central Meon Valley
South Wonston Wonston & Micheldever
The Worthys
Southwick & Soberton Southwick & Wickham
Sparsholt Wonston & Micheldever
Swanmore Central Meon Valley
Tichborne Upper Meon Valley
Twyford Colden Common & Twyford
Upham Upper Meon Valley
Warnford Upper Meon Valley
West Meon Upper Meon Valley
Whiteley Whiteley & Shedfield
Wickham Southwick & Wickham
Wonston Wonston & Micheldever


Notes

  1. Elected to St Michael Ward in 2019 after defecting from Conservative Group; election for seat will be held concurrently with other seats in 2021.

References

  1. "Population figures". Winchester City Council. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. "Local elections: Winchester". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  3. "City Councillors". Winchester City Council. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
  4. Rea, Robin (January 22, 2014). "Two Conservative Councillors join the Liberal Democrats". Winchester Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  5. "Your Councillors by Ward". Winchester.gov.uk. Winchester City Council. 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-05.
  6. "Your Councillors". Winchester City Council. 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
  7. "Conservative Denmead councillor suspended from party accused of Islamophobic posts on anonymous Twitter account". portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  8. "City councillor resigns from Tories over fears work could embarrass party". Hampshire Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  9. "County Council Election 2017 - Thursday, 4th May, 2017". Hantsweb. Hampshire County Council. 2017-05-04. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  10. Braiden, Gerry (13 October 2016). "https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14798012.scots-authority-named-amongst-uks-top-10-most-prosperous-as-neighbouring-city-props-up-table/". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 11 September 2020. External link in |title= (help)
  11. "Map of Hampshire (Electoral Changes) Order, 2016" (PDF). The Local Government Boundary Commission for England. 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2018.

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