Gosport Borough Council

Gosport Borough Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Kirsten Bradley,
Independent
since 14 May 2025[1][2]
Zoe Huggins,
Conservative
since 20 May 2026
Debbie Gore
since 2023[3]
Structure
Seats28 councillors
Graph of the party split among 28 seats.
Political groups
Administration (11)
    Conservative (11)
Other parties (17)
    Reform (10)
    Liberal Democrats (6)
    Independent (1)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
Last election
7 May 2026
Meeting place
Town Hall, High Street, Gosport, PO12 1EB
Website
www.gosport.gov.uk

Gosport Borough Council is the local authority for the borough of Gosport, in the county of Hampshire, England.

The council has been under no overall control since January 2026. Since the May 2026 election, the council has been led by a Conservative Party minority administration. The council is based at Gosport Town Hall.

History

Gosport was historically part of the parish of Alverstoke. Gosport's first form of local government was a body of improvement commissioners known as the "Gosport Town Trustees", established in 1763.[4] In 1874 the town trustees were replaced by a Local Board (also known as the Urban Sanitary Authority) and the local government district was enlarged to cover the whole parish of Alverstoke, and so the new body was called the "Alverstoke Local Board".[5] The loss of the Gosport name from its governing body was a subject of ongoing debate in the area for some years afterwards, and in 1891 the local board was renamed the "Gosport and Alverstoke Local Board".[6][7]

Under the Local Government Act 1894, such local government districts were reconstituted as urban districts, and so the council became the "Gosport and Alverstoke Urban District Council". On 9 November 1922 the urban district was made a municipal borough and the Alverstoke name was removed from its title.[8][9][10] On 1 April 1974 the district became a non-metropolitan district, altering its powers and responsibilities but keeping the same area and name.[11]

In 2026, the government announced plans to abolish Gosport Borough Council in 2028, when the area will instead become part of a new South East Hampshire unitary authority.[12]

Governance

Gosport Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hampshire County Council.[13] There are no civil parishes in the borough.[14]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since January 2026.[15] After the 2026 election, the Conservatives became the largest party and formed a minority administration to run the council.[16][17]

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:[18][19]

Party in controlYears
Labour1974–1976
Conservative1976–1990
No overall control1990–1991
Liberal Democrats1991–1997
No overall control1997–2004
Conservative2004–2006
No overall control2006–2010
Conservative2010–2022
Liberal Democrats[20]2022–2026
No overall control[15]2026–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Gosport. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council (formally the chair of the policy and organisation board). The leaders since 2007 have been:

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Shaun Cully[21]Labourpre-2007May 2008
David Smith[22][23]Liberal Democrats15 May 2008May 2009
Mark Hook[24][25]Conservative14 May 200919 May 2021
Graham Burgess[26][27]Conservative19 May 2021May 2022
Peter Chegwyn[28][29][30]Liberal Democrats19 May 2022May 2026
Zoe Huggins[16] Conservative 20 May 2026

Composition

Following the 2026 election, the composition of the council was:[31][32]

Party Councillors
Conservative11
Reform10
Liberal Democrats6
Independent1
Total 28

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022 the council has comprised 28 councillors elected from 14 wards, with each ward electing two councillors. Elections are held in alternate years with half the council being elected each time (one councillor for each ward) for a four year term of office.[33]

Premises

The council is based at Gosport Town Hall on the High Street. The building was purpose-built for the council and was completed in 1964.[34][35] The previous town hall of 1812 had been destroyed in the Portsmouth Blitz in 1940.[36]

References

  1. ↑ "Council minutes, 14 May 2025". Gosport Borough Council. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
  2. ↑ "Gosport Mayor delighted to be re-elected for second term". Gosport Borough Council. 3 June 2026. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  3. ↑ "New Chief Executive". Coastline. Gosport Borough Council. July 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  4. ↑ "No. 23367". The London Gazette. 3 April 1868. p. 2043. An Act for the better paving of the streets, and for preventing nuisances and other annoyances in the town of Gosport, in the county of Southampton (3 Geo 3rd, c. 56)
  5. ↑ Annual Report of the Local Government Board. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1875. p. 498. Retrieved 11 September 2022. The Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation Act 1874 (No. 3)
  6. ↑ "Alverstoke or Gosport?". Hampshire Telegraph. Portsmouth. 11 April 1891. p. 3. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  7. ↑ "Altering name of Local Board". Hampshire Telegraph. Portsmouth. 2 May 1891. p. 1. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  8. ↑ "No. 32649". The London Gazette. 24 March 1922. p. 2416.
  9. ↑ "Gosport a municipal borough: The new era begins". Hampshire Telegraph. Portsmouth. 10 November 1922. p. 14. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  10. ↑ "Relationships and changes Gosport MB/UD through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  11. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "How the map of Hampshire's councils is changing after devolution". BBC News. 25 March 2026.
  13. ↑ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  14. ↑ "Elections Map". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  15. 1 2 Boothroyd, David (16 January 2026). "Gosport goes Reform". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  16. 1 2 George, Maya (21 May 2026). "Cllr Zoe Huggins is elected leader of Gosport Borough Council". The News. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "Gosport". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 26 November 2024. (Put "Gosport" in search box to see specific results.)
  19. ↑ "Gosport". BBC News Online. 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  20. ↑ "Local elections 2022: Lib Dems take over Gosport Borough Council from Conservatives". The News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  21. ↑ "Policy and Organisation Board minutes, 12 March 2008" (PDF). Gosport Borough Council. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  22. ↑ "Council minutes, 14–15 May 2008" (PDF). Gosport Borough Council. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  23. ↑ "Council 'fourth highest snooper'". BBC News. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  24. ↑ "Council minutes, 14 May 2009" (PDF). Gosport Borough Council. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  25. ↑ George, David (19 May 2021). "Gosport council leader Mark Hook reflects on 30 years in politics on final day in office". The News. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  26. ↑ "Council minutes, 19 May 2021". Gosport Borough Council. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  27. ↑ George, David (6 May 2022). "Local elections 2022: Lib Dems take over Gosport Borough Council from Conservatives". The News. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  28. ↑ Paine, Toby (24 May 2022). "New Gosport council leader says he wants to look at 'financial dealings' at town hall". The News. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  29. ↑ "Council minutes, 19 May 2022". Gosport Borough Council. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
  30. ↑ George, David (7 May 2026). "Local elections 2026: Reform oust Lib Dems from Gosport strongholds as Tories hold seats". The News. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  31. ↑ "Gosport election result - Local Elections 2026". BBC News.
  32. ↑ "Gosport". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  33. ↑ "The Gosport (Electoral Changes) Order 2022", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2022/129, retrieved 8 November 2023
  34. ↑ Hatherley, Owen (2021). Modern Buildings in Britain: A Gazetteer. Penguin Books. p. 337. ISBN 978-0141998312.
  35. ↑ Balfour, Alan (1970). Portsmouth; with Contributions from Peter Hollins and Geoffrey Broadbent. Studio Vista. p. 85. ISBN 978-0289798065.
  36. ↑ "Memories of Gosport in the 1940s". Gosport.info. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
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