Hampshire County Council

Hampshire County Council
Depiction of Coat of arms
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1889
Leadership
Mark Cooper,
Liberal Democrat
since 22 May 2025
Nick Adams-King,
Conservative
since 23 May 2024
Carolyn Williamson
since 19 July 2021
Structure
Seats78 councillors
Political groups
Administration (50)
  Conservative (50)
Other parties (28)
  Liberal Democrats (19)
  Independent (4)
  Labour (3)
  Green (1)
  Whitehill & Bordon Community Party (1)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
First past the post
Last election
6 May 2021
Next election
to be confirmed
Meeting place
The Castle, Upper High Street, Winchester, SO23 8UJ
Website
www.hants.gov.uk
Constitution
Hampshire County Council - The Constitution

Hampshire County Council (HCC) is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hampshire in England. The council was created in 1889. The county council provides county-level services to eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. The county council acts as the upper tier of local government to approximately 1.4 million people. It is one of 21 county councils in England.

Whilst they form part of the ceremonial county of Hampshire, the two cities of Southampton and Portsmouth are unitary authorities, independent from Hampshire County Council. The county council comprises 78 elected councillors, who meet in the city of Winchester, which is the county town.

Since 1997, the council has been controlled by the Conservatives.