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Gosport Borough Council

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Gosport Borough Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Richard Earle,
Liberal Democrat
since 15 May 2024[1]
Peter Chegwyn,
Liberal Democrat
since 19 May 2022[2]
Debbie Gore
since 2023
Structure
Seats28 councillors
Political groups
Administration (15)
  Liberal Democrat (15)
Other parties (13)
  Conservative (10)
  Labour (3)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
Last election
2 May 2024
Next 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 consists of 28 councillors, two or three for each of the 14 wards in the town.[3] It is currently controlled by the Liberal Democrats, led by Peter Chegwyn.[4] The borough council is based at Gosport Town Hall.[5]

History

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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.[6] 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".[7] 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".[8][9]

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.[10][11][12] On 1 April 1974 the district became a non-metropolitan district, altering its powers and responsibilities but keeping the same area and name.[13]

Governance

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Gosport Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hampshire County Council.[14] There are no civil parishes in the borough.[15]

Political control

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The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since 2022.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:[16][17]

Party in control Years
Labour 1974–1976
Conservative 1976–1990
No overall control 1990–1991
Liberal Democrats 1991–1997
No overall control 1997–2004
Conservative 2004–2006
No overall control 2006–2010
Conservative 2010–2022
Liberal Democrats 2022–present

Leadership

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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:[18][19]

Councillor Party From To
Shaun Cully Labour pre-2007 15 May 2008
David Smith Liberal Democrats 15 May 2008 14 May 2009
Mark Hook Conservative 14 May 2009 19 May 2021
Graham Burgess Conservative 19 May 2021 19 May 2022
Peter Chegwyn Liberal Democrats 19 May 2022

Composition

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Following the 2024 election and a subsequent by-election in July 2024, the composition of the council was:[20][21]

Party Councillors
Liberal Democrats 15
Conservative 10
Labour 3
Total 28

The next election is due in May 2026.

Elections

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See also: Gosport Borough Council 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.[22]

Premises

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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.[23][24] The previous town hall of 1812 had been destroyed in the Portsmouth Blitz in 1940.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "Council minutes, 15 May 2024". Gosport Borough Council. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Council minutes, 19 May 2022". Gosport Borough Council. 19 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Your Councillors by Ward". Gosport Borough Council. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Local elections 2022: Lib Dems take over Gosport Borough Council from Conservatives". The News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  5. ^ Hatherley, Owen (2021). Modern Buildings in Britain: A Gazetteer. Penguin Books. p. 337. ISBN 978-0141998312.
  6. ^ "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)
  7. ^ 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)
  8. ^ "Alverstoke or Gosport?". Hampshire Telegraph. Portsmouth. 11 April 1891. p. 3. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Altering name of Local Board". Hampshire Telegraph. Portsmouth. 2 May 1891. p. 1. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  10. ^ "No. 32649". The London Gazette. 24 March 1922. p. 2416.
  11. ^ "Gosport a municipal borough: The new era begins". Hampshire Telegraph. Portsmouth. 10 November 1922. p. 14. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Relationships and changes Gosport MB/UD through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  13. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  15. ^ "Elections Map". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Gosport". BBC News Online. 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  18. ^ "Council minutes". Gosport Borough Council. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Archive of Council meetings". Gosport Borough Council. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  20. ^ Brown, Kelly (3 May 2024). "Gosport Borough Council: Full election results for 2024 as the Conservatives buck a national trend". The News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Gosport". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  22. ^ "The Gosport (Electoral Changes) Order 2022", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2022/129, retrieved 8 November 2023
  23. ^ Hatherley, Owen (2021). Modern Buildings in Britain: A Gazetteer. Penguin Books. p. 337. ISBN 978-0141998312.
  24. ^ Balfour, Alan (1970). Portsmouth; with Contributions from Peter Hollins and Geoffrey Broadbent. Studio Vista. p. 85. ISBN 978-0289798065.
  25. ^ "Memories of Gosport in the 1940s". Gosport.info. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
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