Elections to Portsmouth City Council took place on Thursday 2 May 2019, alongside other local elections across the country. The seats contested in this election were last contested in 2015. The Conservative Party had 8 seats they were defending, the Liberal Democrats 5 and Labour 1 seat. A by-election occurred within the vacant Cosham seat from last years election, due to the sitting Conservative standing down. No party gained a majority from this election, and therefore the council remains under no overall control.

Quick Facts 15 of the 42 seats to Portsmouth City Council 22 seats needed for a majority, First party ...

2019 Portsmouth City Council election

← 2018 2 May 2019 2021 →
15 of the 42 seats to Portsmouth City Council[1] 22 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Con Leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson Donna Jones Stephen Morgan Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Labour Leader's seat Milton Hilsea Charles Dickens Last election 4 (2015) 9 (2015) +1 1 (2015) Seats before 17 17 5 Seats won 6 (18 total) 7 (16 total) 2 (6 total) Seat change 2 3 1 Popular vote 13,969 11,886 11,966 Percentage 29.2% 24.9% 25.0% Swing 9.5% 9.4% 5.6%
Council control before election No Overall Control Council control after election No Overall Control

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Following the election, the Liberal Democrat minority administration that was formed in 2018 continued in office.^[2] Labour abstained on the vote for the council leader, with the Liberal Democrats winning the vote by virtue of being the single largest party.

Elections to Portsmouth council since 2012 have proven to have volatile and changing results, with eleven of the city's fourteen wards voting for different parties each year.^[3] Following the 2018 election in Portsmouth, in which one third of the council was elected, the UK Independence Party lost all of their seats. Gerald Vernon-Jackson became leader of the council.^[4]

A Conservative councillor for Cosham who was elected, James Fleming, was forced to resign as he was not attending meetings due to long term sickness. This means that the Cosham ward will have two seats up for election.^[5] The Conservatives also faced an internal inquiry during this campaign due to one of their former candidates claiming he was racially abused.^[6]

Immediately ahead of this election, the composition of the council was:

After the election result, the composition of the council became:

As the council is elected in thirds, one councillor for each of the 14 wards are elected each year. All comparisons in seats and swing are to the corresponding 2015 election.

More information Party, This election ...

2019 Portsmouth City Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	6	2	40.0	12	18	42.9	13,969	29.2
	Conservative	7	3	46.7	9	16	38.1	11,966	24.9
	Labour	2	1	13.3	4	6	14.3	11,966	25.1
	Independent	0		0.0	2	2	4.8	0	0.0
	UKIP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	6,664	14.0
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	2,752	5.8
	NHA	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	344	0.7
	Veterans and People's	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	117	0.2
	Justice & Anti-Corruption	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	75	0.2

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Comparisons for the purpose of determining a gain, hold or loss of a seat, and for all percentage changes, is to the last time these specific seats were up for election in 2015. An asterisk indicates the incumbent councillor.