THE Conservatives have retained control of Hampshire County Council.

There were no major changes in this year's county council elections with the Conservatives holding 56 seats out of 78.

The Liberal Democrats remain the largest opposition party on the county council with 17 seats - two down from what they held previously.

  • Read more: Southampton City Council results in full

The Lib Dems lost the Bishopstoke and Fair Oak division to independent borough councillor Louise Parker-Jones.

They also lost the West End and Horton Heath seat to the Conservatives.

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Cllr Keith House, leader of the Lib Dems was re-elected in the Hamble division. He said: "This has been a difficult year for parties in opposition to the Conservatives nationally. Liberal Democrats won six of the eight county divisions in Eastleigh which was remarkable. Winning all of Hiltingbury at the county level for the first time reflects the very hard work of Tim Groves in the area.”

It comes as Cllr Judith Grajewski, former cabinet member for health at the county council, lost her Chandler's Ford seat.

Meanwhile, Labour gained two more seats, holding now a total of three seats.

Conservatives leader, Cllr Keith Mans, who retained his Brockenhurst seat, said: "I had not expected such a good result. We polled more than 50% of the vote and returned exactly the same number of councillors than we did in 2017 thanks to the hard work by all our candidates and our supporters.

"This gives us a very good working majority to take forward our policies in the future. Our main aim now is to assist in any way we can to help Hampshire’s economy recover from the pandemic."

The new chairman, vice chairman, leader of the county council and cabinet members will be announced at the annual general meeting on May 27.

The political make-up of the county Council is now:

• Conservatives – 56 seats

• Liberal Democrats – 17

• Labour – 3

• Whitehill & Bordon Community Party – 1

• Independent - 1

This compares with the results of the 2017 elections: 56 Conservatives, 19 Liberal Democrats, 2 Labour, and one Community Campaign (Hart).

The political make-up of the County Council going into the 2021 election was:

• Conservatives – 55 seats

• Liberal Democrats – 19

• Labour – 1

• Community Campaign for Hart – 1

• Basingstoke & Deane Independent Group – 1

• Unaffiliated - 1