| Election Name: | 2024 Havant Borough Council election |
| Country: | Hampshire |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 2023 Havant Borough Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2023 |
| Next Election: | 2026 Havant Borough Council election |
| Next Year: | 2026 |
| Seats For Election: | All 36 seats to Havant Borough Council |
| Majority Seats: | 19 |
| Turnout: | 29.79% |
| Leader1: | Alex Rennie |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Last Election1: | 30 seats, 39.4% |
| Seats Before1: | 28 |
| Seats1: | 13 |
| Seat Change1: | 15 |
| Popular Vote1: | 26,370[1] |
| Percentage1: | 37.8% |
| Leader2: | Philip Munday |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Last Election2: | 4 seats, 24.5% |
| Seats Before2: | 4 |
| Seats2: | 10 |
| Seat Change2: | 6 |
| Popular Vote2: | 12,923 |
| Percentage2: | 18.51% |
| Leader3: | Philippa Gray |
| Party3: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Last Election3: | 2 seats, 20.6% |
| Seats Before3: | 2 |
| Seats3: | 7 |
| Seat Change3: | 5 |
| Popular Vote3: | 14,455 |
| Percentage3: | 20.7% |
| Party4: | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Last Election4: | 1 seat, 14.3% |
| Seats Before4: | 1 |
| Seats4: | 4 |
| Seat Change4: | 4 |
| Popular Vote4: | 13,646 |
| Percentage4: | 19.6% |
| Party5: | Reform UK |
| Last Election5: | No seats, <0.01% |
| Seats Before5: | 0 |
| Seats5: | 2 |
| Seat Change5: | 2 |
| Popular Vote5: | 1,978 |
| Percentage5: | 2.8% |
| Council control | |
| Posttitle: | Council control after election |
| Before Election: | Alex Rennie |
| Before Party: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| After Election: | Philip Munday Labour |
| After Party: | No overall control |
The 2024 Havant Borough Council election took place on Thursday 2 May 2024, alongside the other local elections in the United Kingdom being held on the same day. All 36 members of Havant Borough Council in Hampshire were elected following boundary changes.
Prior to the election the Conservatives held a majority of the seats on the council. Following the election the council was left under no overall control, and the Conservative leader of the council, Alex Rennie, lost his seat.[2] The Conservatives remained the largest party, but a coalition of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Green Party formed to run the council, led by Labour councillor Philip Munday. He was appointed as leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 15 May 2024.[3]
Since its creation in 1974, Havant has been a consistently strong council for the Conservatives. They have held majorities on the council since 1980, aside from periods of no overall control between 1990 and 2002, where the Liberal Democrats became the largest group on the council for 4 years.[4]
In the previous election in 2023, the Conservatives lost 5 seats with 39.4% of the vote, Labour gained 1 with 24.5%, the Liberal Democrats gained 2 with 20.6%, and the Green Party won their first seat with 14.3%.
Havant usually elects its councillors in thirds, on a 4-year cycle. However, following boundary changes, all councillors were elected to the new wards.[5] The change fixes the number of councillors for every ward at 3, which reduces the total number of councillors by 2. Each voter could cast up to three votes. The councillors elected to each ward will serve two, three or four year terms, based on their relative vote share, with the longest term being served by the councillor with the largest number of votes.[5]
| Old wards[6] | No. of seats | New wards | No. of seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barncroft | 2 | Bedhampton | 3 |
| Battins | 2 | Cowplain | 3 |
| Bedhampton | 3 | Emsworth | 3 |
| Bondfields | 2 | Hart Plain | 3 |
| Cowplain | 3 | Havant St Faith's | 3 |
| Emsworth | 3 | Hayling East | 3 |
| Hart Plain | 3 | Hayling West | 3 |
| Hayling East | 3 | Leigh Park Central and West Leigh | 3 |
| Hayling West | 3 | Leigh Park Hermitage | 3 |
| Purbrook | 3 | Purbrook | 3 |
| St Faith's | 3 | Stakes | 3 |
| Stakes | 3 | Waterloo | 3 |
| Warren Park | 2 | ||
| Waterloo | 3 | ||
| After 2023 election | Before 2024 election[7] | After 2024 election | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | Party | Seats | Party | Seats | |||
| 30 | 28 | 13 | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | 10 | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | 7 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Vacant | 0 | Vacant | 3 | 2 | ||||
|-
The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Havant Borough Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2024.[11]