City of Winchester


The City of Winchester is a local government district in Hampshire, England, with city status.
It covers an area of central Hampshire including the ancient settlement of the city of Winchester itself, but covers a larger area of central Hampshire including Bishop's Waltham, Denmead, New Alresford, and Kings Worthy. For a full list of these, see the "Settlements and parishes" section below. The city covers an area of 255.20 square miles and a population of 123,900
The current city boundaries were set on 1 April 1974 when the City of Winchester merged with the former Droxford Rural District and part of the former Winchester Rural District council areas. It is bordered by Basingstoke and Deane, East Hampshire, Havant, Portsmouth, Fareham, Eastleigh, and Test Valley.
The city traces its history to the Roman Era, developing from the town of Venta Belgarum. It saw historic significance from its reconstruction under Alfred the Great in the 9th century, and grew in prominence until London replaced it as capital; Winchester saw a decline after plague swept the country, but began to recover from the 19th century.

Governance

Parliamentary constituencies

The City of Winchester is made up of two parliamentary constituencies. Winchester constituency covers the north-eastern part of the city, as well as Chandler's Ford, which is part of Eastleigh. The remainder constitutes Meon Valley, which also covers part of East Hampshire and Havant. Winchester constituency has been represented by Steve Brine since 2010, whilst Meon Valley has been represented by Flick Drummond since the 2019 general election.

Winchester City Council

Elections to the council are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the seats on the council being elected at each election. From 1995 to the 2004 election the Liberal Democrats had a majority on the council, but after 2 years when no party held a majority the 2006 election saw the Conservative party gain control. The elections on 6 May 2010 saw the Liberal Democrats re take control of the council, however the council soon switched to NOC a year later in 2011. In 2012, the Conservative Party made their only Council gain of the entire English local elections and won a majority in Winchester once again. Subsequently, two Conservative councillors defected to the Liberal Democrat group, placing the council under No Overall Control. Following local elections on 7 May 2015, the Conservatives re-gained majority control of the council. After the local elections on 2 May 2019, the Liberal Democrats gained majority control.
The council is currently led by a Liberal Democrat administration. The make up of the council as of May 2019 is:
holds elections every four years. In the 2017 elections the Winchester City district area elected seven representatives, out of 78:

Demographics

A Legatum Prosperity Index published by the Legatum Institute in October 2016 showed the City of Winchester as the third most prosperous council area in the United Kingdom, after the Borough of Waverley and Mole Valley.

Settlements and parishes

Settlements in the district include: