The 2006 Southampton Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Southampton Unitary Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1]
After the election, the composition of the council was:
Before the election the Liberal Democrats formed the administration of the council with 17 seats, compared to 16 for the Conservatives and 15 for Labour.[3]
Issues in the election included refuse collection, the condition of the pavements and anti-social behaviour.[3] The Labour and Liberal Democrat parties clashed over anti-social behaviour, with the parties disagreeing over whether the Liberal Democrat led council was doing enough to tackle such behaviour.[3] [4] The campaign saw national politicians joining in, such as Labour's Hazel Blears and Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes.[3]
The election also had two independents standing on a platform calling for the chairman of Southampton F.C. Rupert Lowe to resign.[5]
The results saw all 3 main parties end the election with 16 seats,[6] after Labour gained 1 seat from the Liberal Democrats.[7] Meanwhile, the independents calling for Rupert Lowe to resign as chairman of Southampton F.C. received 200 and 63 votes each.[5] Overall turnout in the election was 31.3%.[7]
Following the election the 3 parties were unable to reach agreement on who should become leader of the council, with a five-hour council meeting on 18 May failing to reach a conclusion.[8] Finally Liberal Democrat Adrian Vinson continued as council leader for another year.[9]