Hampshire

Hampshire (abbr. Hants) is a county on the south coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county borders (clockwise from West), Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex. The county is 1,455 square miles (3,769 km²) in size and at its widest points is approximately 55 miles (90 km) east-west and 40 miles (65 km) north-south. The county town is Winchester situated at {{coor dms|51|03|35|N|1|18|36|W|}}. The 2001 census gave the population of the administrative county as 1.24 million; the ceremonial county also includes the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton, which are administratively independent, and has a total population of 1.6 million.

Politics

Hampshire is divided into seventeen parliamentary constituencies. Ten of these are represented by Conservative MPs, four by the Liberal Democrats and three by Labour. Labour represent the large cities, including both Southampton constituencies (Test and Itchen) and Portsmouth North. The Conservatives represent the most rural constituencies, Aldershot, New Forest West, New Forest East, Hampshire North West, Basingstoke, Hampshire North East, Hampshire East, Havant, Gosport and Fareham. The Liberal Democrats represent Winchester, Romsey, Portsmouth South and Eastleigh, all centred around towns.

Related Topics:
Parliamentary constituencies - Conservative - MPs - Liberal Democrats - Labour - Test - Itchen - Portsmouth North - Aldershot - New Forest West - New Forest East - Hampshire North West - Basingstoke - Hampshire North East - Hampshire East - Havant - Gosport - Fareham - Winchester - Romsey - Portsmouth South - Eastleigh

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the 2005 local elections for Hampshire County Council the Conservative Party had a 43.69% share of the votes, the Liberal Democrats had 36.01% and Labour 16.08%. Therefore 46 Conservatives, 28 Liberal Democrats and four Labour councillors sit on the County Council {{ref|county_council}}. Southampton City Council, which is entirely independent, has 18 Liberal Democrat, 15 Labour and 15 Conservative councillors {{ref|soton_council}}. Portsmouth City Council, also independent, has 20 Liberal Democrat, 18 Conservative, seven Labour and one independent councillor {{ref|ports_council}}.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~