The 2010 Southampton Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

 Unitary

Unitary authority

A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

 Council in Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 stayed in overall control of the council.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative
  Conservative Party (UK)
  The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
  
   28
• Labour
  Labour Party (UK)
  The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
  
   15
• Liberal Democrat 5

Background

Before the election the Conservatives ran the council with 26 seats, compared to 14 for Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 and 8 for the Liberal Democrats. With the Conservatives defending just 4 of the 16 seats being contested they were almost certain to retain control of the council. Meanwhile Liberal Democrat group leader Jill Baston was among those who stood down at the election, with former Liberal Democrat leader of the council Adrian Vinson attempting to return to the council in the seat she was leaving.

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives keep a majority on the council after gaining 2 seats to hold 28 of the 48 seats. Labour made a net gain of the 1 seat to move to 15 seats, while the Liberal Democrats lost 3 to be reduced to 5 councillor

Councillor

A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...

s. With the election taking place at the same time as the 2010 general election overall turnout

Voter turnout

Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

 was higher than usual at 59%.

Both unsuccessful Conservative candidates for Southampton Itchen and Southampton Test in the 2010 general election were among those re-elected to the council. The former Liberal Democrat leader of the council Adrian Vinson, regained a seat on the council in Portswood

Portswood

Portswood is a suburb and Electoral Ward of Southampton, England. The suburb lies to the north-east of the city centre and is bounded by Freemantle, Highfield, Swaythling, St. Denys and Bevois Valley....

, 2 years after being voted off the council, while Gerry Drake held Peartree

Peartree (ward)

Peartree Ward is an Electoral Ward in the Unitary Authority of Southampton, England.It covers the suburbs of Merry Oak, Peartree Green and Itchen, and is bordered by Bargate Ward, Bevois Ward, Bitterne Park Ward, Harefield Ward, Sholing Ward, and Woolston Ward....

 for the Liberal Democrats by 30 votes after 3 recounts. However Labour candidates Keith Morrell and David Furnell gained the seats of Coxford

Coxford, Southampton

Coxford is an Electoral Ward in the Unitary Authority of Southampton, England. It had a population of 14,232 as of the 2001 census....

 and Millbrook

Millbrook, Southampton

Millbrook is a suburb and former civil parish of Southampton. As the area developed, several settlements grew within the parish, some of them becoming parishes in their own right, thus reducing the extent of the Millbrook parish. As well as the Millbrook of today, the original Millbrook parish...

respectively from the Liberal Democrats.

Ward results