Elections for councillors to represent local wards at city council level, and for police and crime commissioner, are scheduled to take place on May 6. Here are the local election seats up for grabs, and how to apply for a postal or proxy vote if that's how you'd prefer to play it this year.

 

 

Local elections give residents the chance to choose who will represent them at city level, and which party – if any – wins control of Southampton City Council, which is in charge of a raft of local services.

Each city ward, which covers a relatively large area, has three councillors, and every year (usually) for three consecutive years one councillor in each ward will have completed their term of office and their seat is put up for election.

Last year Covid caused the cancellation of local elections, so they've been rescheduled for this year.

Which seats are up for election?

Bitterne Park ward

In the Bitterne Park ward it's Cllr Ivan White's seat up for grabs.

White is one of the three councillors, all currently Conservative, elected to represent the Bitterne Park ward. He's been a Bitterne Park councillor since 2004 - when interestingly he beat the Lib Dem candidate Anne Work by only 108 votes. White's mother also previously represented the ward, and was the city mayor in 1977/78.

 Portswood ward

In Portswood ward, which includes St Denys, Portswood and Highfield, Cllr John Savage's seat will be up for election.

Savage is one of three Labour councillors currently elected to represent the ward. Prior to his election for Labour in 2016, the party said it had held no council seats in the Portswood ward for 35 years.

The full list of candidates for each of the city's 16 wards is expected to be published on April 8.

 

This year residents will also be asked to elect the new police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. PCCs are elected every four years.

Residents will be able to vote in both elections by proxy or by post.

Voting by post

The deadline to apply for a postal vote is Tuesday, April 20.

Applying involves downloading and completing a form and sending it to the council.

To vote by post you must be registered to vote by midnight on Monday, April 19, says the Electoral Commission. There's full details of how to apply from the Electoral Commission website.

Voting by proxy

You can also apply for a proxy vote - where someone is allowed to vote on someone else's behalf – via the Electoral Commission website, although rules will be changed so that people who have to self-isolate can request an emergency proxy vote up to 5pm on polling day.

And voting in person will still be possible.

Mark Heath, returning officer for Southampton and the police area returning officer for Hampshire, said: "Voting in person will still be available and there will be no change to the hours of polling. The count will take more time than for previous polls. However, results should of course still be announced before the terms of new elected officials begin."

By bitternepark.info and Maria Zaccaro, Local Democracy Reporter

Links
For more information about elections visit:
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voter or
www.southampton.gov.uk/SouthamptonElections2021

Previously
Making plans to vote safely at next year’s local elections
In the news: Police and crime commissioner candidates interviewed