Elections
Before the four future councils start, you will have the chance to elect local councillors to be on your future council. These elections will take place in May 2027.
These elected councillors will manage the transition from your current council(s) to your new one – operating as what is called a shadow authority (or shadow council) in the first year.
Once the future councils begin operating on 1 April 2028, they will also serve as councillors for your future council until the next election in 2032. From then on, councillors for the future councils will serve standard terms of four years.
This is similar to how reorganisations elsewhere in the UK have worked, and it helps to ensure a stable transition to the future councils.
Until the future councils come into effect on 1 April 2028, your current county, district, borough and unitary councillors will continue serving as part of your current council(s). These councillors may also choose to stand in the elections for the future unitary councils (which are shadow authorities for the first year). You can find out the name of your councillors on your current council’s website.
You will be able to find more information about the elections for each future council, including how to vote, on this page, as things progress.
Information about these upcoming elections is set out in the Government’s Local Government Reorganisation: Implementation Letter to the Chief Executives of Hampshire County Council, the Isle of Wight Council, and Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils.
