New Forest
Every election cycle we have data for, most recent first.
Cycles
Council composition as of 2025
48 councillors, by party. One square per seat. Source: opencouncildata annual snapshot — reflects the council at the end of 2025 (after that year's elections, by-elections and defections). Hover any seat for the party.
Most recent election (2023)
In 2023, 48 seats were up across 26 wards. The table below shows what each party actually won — alongside what they would have won if the 48 seats had been shared in proportion to votes received (how, with caveats). The Δ column is the actual seat count minus the proportional seat count — positive numbers are parties First-Past-the-Post over-represented; negative are parties it under-represented.
| Party | Votes | Vote % | Seats won | % of seats | Proportional seats | Proportional % | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative Party | 34,767 | 42.1% | 26 | 54.2% | 21 | 43.8% | +5 |
| Liberal Democrats | 24,010 | 29.1% | 14 | 29.2% | 14 | 29.2% | 0 |
| Labour Party | 11,845 | 14.3% | 1 | 2.1% | 7 | 14.6% | -6 |
| Independent | 6,111 | 7.4% | 4 | 8.3% | 3 | 6.3% | +1 |
| Green Party | 5,713 | 6.9% | 3 | 6.3% | 3 | 6.3% | 0 |
| Britain First | 108 | 0.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Total | 82,554 | 100.0% | 48 | 100.0% | 48 | 100.0% | 0 |
Vote share vs seats won
The top bar is each party's share of votes cast in this council. Below, one square per seat, coloured by the party that won it — first the actual First-Past-the-Post result, then what a proportional method would have produced from the same vote totals. Divergence between the bar and the actual grid is the indictment of the method.
Full ward-by-ward results for 2023 →
Composition history
One row per opencouncildata annual snapshot — the council at the end of each year (after that year's elections, by-elections and defections). Newest first; hover any seat for the party.
Ward by ward
Each row is a ward, each column a cycle. Each cell shows the top-of-poll candidate's party (swatch) and their share of valid ballots. Wards are matched by name across cycles — boundary reviews can mean a ward of the same name is a slightly different area in a later cycle.
| Ward | 2019 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Ashley, Bashley and Fernhill | 53% | |
| Ashurst, Bramshaw, Copythorne and Netley Marsh | 53% | |
| Ashurst, Copythorne South and Netley Marsh | 75% | |
| Ballard | 41% | |
| Barton | 75% | |
| Barton and Becton | 59% | |
| Bashley | 80% | |
| Becton | 68% | |
| Boldre and Sway | 77% | |
| Bransgore and Burley | 85% | |
| Bransgore, Burley, Sopley and Ringwood East | 45% | |
| Brockenhurst and Denny Lodge | 51% | |
| Brockenhurst and Forest South East | 57% | |
| Buckland | 46% | |
| Butts Ash and Dibden Purlieu | 66% | |
| Dibden and Dibden Purlieu | 65% | |
| Dibden and Hythe East | 58% | |
| Downlands and Forest | 61% | |
| Downlands and Forest North | 49% | |
| Fawley, Blackfield and Langley | 61% | |
| Fawley, Blackfield, Calshot and Langley | 53% | |
| Fernhill | 72% | |
| Fordingbridge | 47% | |
| Fordingbridge, Godshill and Hyde | 55% | |
| Forest and Solent | 50% | |
| Forest North West | 62% | |
| Furzedown and Hardley | 47% | |
| Hardley, Holbury and North Blackfield | 39% | |
| Holbury and North Blackfield | 71% | |
| Hordle | 87% | |
| Hythe Central | 59% | |
| Hythe South | 59% | |
| Hythe West and Langdown | 69% | |
| Lymington | 45% | |
| Lymington Town | 64% | |
| Lyndhurst | 51% | |
| Lyndhurst and Minstead | 49% | |
| Marchwood | 65% | |
| Marchwood and Eling | 54% | |
| Milford | 87% | |
| Milford and Hordle | 51% | |
| Milton | 67% | 54% |
| Pennington | 49% | 58% |
| Ringwood East and Sopley | 76% | |
| Ringwood North | 61% | |
| Ringwood North and Ellingham | 42% | |
| Ringwood South | 63% | 31% |
| Sway | 55% | |
| Totton Central | 56% | 38% |
| Totton East | 51% | |
| Totton North | 69% | 57% |
| Totton South | 80% | 59% |
| Totton West | 72% |