Photo: Peter Trimming · CC BY-SA 2.0The Liberal Democrats hold a majority on Winchester City Council
Bishop's Sutton is run by Winchester City Council and Hampshire County Council, with Bishops Sutton parish council for local matters. The Liberal Democrats have a majority on Winchester City Council. No party holds a majority on Hampshire County Council. Its MP is Dr Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat), member for Winchester.
£2,317
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Bishop's Sutton’s politics has changed since 2021
A majority on Winchester City Council
The Liberal Democrats hold a majority on Winchester City Council: 36 of its 45 seats as elected. The Greens hold 4, the Conservatives 4 and independents 1. Who’s in charge ↓
Hampshire changed hands in 2026
Hampshire County Council, which runs schools, social care and roads, went from a Conservative majority (54 of 78 seats in 2021) to no overall control at the May 2026 election: the Conservatives won 27 of 78 seats. Hampshire ↓
The 2026 vote
Across Bishop's Sutton’s wards, the Liberal Democrats took 52.7%, the Conservatives took 24.1% and Reform UK took 15.9% of votes in May 2026. In 2024, the Liberal Democrats had 53.9%. How Bishop's Sutton has voted ↓
Council tax
A Band D bill in Bishop's Sutton is £2,317 for 2026–27; Winchester City Council keeps 8% of it. The council area’s Band D has risen 57% in ten years, in line with England’s 56%. Council money ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and MHCLG council tax.
Who holds the seats on Bishop's Sutton’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 23 of Winchester’s 45 or 40 of Hampshire’s 78 seats to run the council alone.
- Liberal Democrat36
- Conservative4
- Green4
- Independent1
Latest election: May 2026.
- Conservative27−27
- Liberal Democrat26+8
- Reform UK20+20
- Community Campaign (Hart)1+1
- Green1no change
- Independent1no change
- Labour1−2
- Whitehill & Bordon Community Party1no change
Change against the council before the 7 May 2026 election.
Seats are counted from election results: each ward’s most recent winners until its seats are filled. Councillors who have since changed party or resigned aren’t reflected, and which parties lead the council, and who is leader, comes from the council itself.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), elections since May 2021; seats per ward from its EveryElection.
Two tiers of council, and a parish tier
Bishop's Sutton has two tiers of council: the county runs the big services, the district the local ones.
Local matters: allotments, play areas, halls, footpaths and benches; it is consulted on planning and adds a precept to the council tax bill. A town council is a parish council by another name.
100% of Bishop's Sutton’s residents · Band D precept £50
Bins and recycling, planning, housing, environmental health, leisure, and collecting council tax.
Website ↗Schools, social care, roads and transport, libraries and waste disposal.
Website ↗Who to ask
From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: in two-tier areas the district or borough runs local services and the county the big ones.
Councils from ONS lookups (wards and councils May 2026, parishes 2025), names and websites from GOV.UK’s local council finder; parish councils from MHCLG’s 2026–27 list of precepting parishes.
From the parish to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Bishop's Sutton, from the most recent elections.
- 1Town or parishParish tierBishops Sutton parish council
- 2Winchester City Council1 ward · 3 councillorsMargot Julia PowerClare PinnigerRussell Digby Gordon-Smith
- 3Hampshire County Council1 division · 1 councillorJackie Porter
- 4Police and crime commissionerHampshire Constabulary · elected May 2024Donna Jones
- 5House of CommonsWinchester
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. Tap an MP’s name for their contact page on parliament.uk.
3 councillors for 1 ward
Wards with at least 2% of the town’s residents, or half their own inside it. Each shows who won its most recent elections, newest first, until its seats are filled.
- Margot Julia PowerLiberal Democrat · May 2026
- Clare PinnigerLiberal Democrat · May 2024
- Russell Digby Gordon-SmithLiberal Democrat · May 2023
Show as a table, with Hampshire County Council’s 1 division (1 councillor)
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alresford and Itchen Valley5% in Bishop's Sutton · 415 residents3 seats · May 2026, May 2024, May 2023 | 3 | Margot Julia PowerClare PinnigerRussell Digby Gordon-Smith | May 2026, May 2024, May 2023 |
Hampshire County Council: county divisions
| Division | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Itchen Valley ED5% in Bishop's Sutton · 415 residents1 seat · May 2026 | 1 | Jackie Porter | May 2026 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Winchester City Council’s website lists who sits now.
Results from Democracy Club’s candidates database (CC BY 4.0; elections since May 2021) and ward seats from its EveryElection, matched to ONS wards (May 2026) and county divisions (May 2025).
Who led each council vote, 2021–2026
Share of all votes cast for candidates in Bishop's Sutton’s wards at each scheduled council election since 2021. A gap is a year with no election here.
Seats won at each election
Show as a table
| Party | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 6.6% | 4.3% | 4.7% | 4.5% | 6.1% |
| Liberal Democrat | 44.6% | 63.1% | 58.8% | 53.9% | 52.7% |
| Conservative | 47.4% | 31% | 34.3% | 39.1% | 24.1% |
| Reform UK | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 15.9% |
In 2026, the Liberal Democrats won 1 of the 1 seats up in Bishop's Sutton’s wards.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Where a ward elects several councillors at once, each voter has that many votes; all of them count here.
Winchester council election, May 2026
Results in the wards that make up Bishop's Sutton, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
1 ward voted. Winchester elects a third of its councillors at a time, so a third of the seats were up.
No election is scheduled yet for Bishop's Sutton’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗3,745 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Bishop's Sutton is in Winchester constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Bishop's Sutton).
57,076 votes for candidates · majority 13,821
Liberal Democrat, MP since 4 July 2024.
turnout in July 2024: 57,076 votes from 78,289 registered voters. England: 60%.
Majority 13,821 of 57,076 votes (24.2%): wider than in 76% of England’s 543 constituencies.
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate.
Bishop's Sutton’s Band D council tax is £2,317 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Winchester City Council keeps £194.10 of a Band D bill (8%); the rest goes to the Bishops Sutton parish council, Hampshire County Council, the Hampshire police and crime commissioner and the Hampshire and IOW Fire and Rescue Authority.
Band D since 1993
Winchester’s Band D bill has risen 57% in ten years, from £1,504.81 in 2016–17, in line with England’s average (56%). It was £457.88 in 1993–94.
Your bill by band
A Band D home in Bishops Sutton, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
Hampshire’s councils
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included; the 11 nearest of 13. Bars start at £2,100.
Council budgets per resident, 2026–27
Show as a table, with Hampshire
| Winchester + Hampshire | Bishop's Sutton’s councils | Hampshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult social care | £486 | £478 | £487 |
| Children’s social care | £258 | £272 | £290 |
| Roads and transport | £37 | £49 | £41 |
| Housing (not council homes’ rents) | £25 | £37 | £61 |
| Bins, street cleaning, environment | £129 | £121 | £119 |
| Libraries, leisure, culture | £31 | £38 | £44 |
| Planning and development | £31 | £32 | £26 |
| Public health | £50 | £62 | £78 |
| Running the council | £89 | £58 | £59 |
| Other | £-2 | £1 | £19 |
| Total, schools apart | £1,133 | £1,146 | £1,234 |
Net budgeted service spending, MHCLG Revenue Account budget 2026–27, per resident (ONS mid-2025 estimates). Both tiers added: Winchester per its residents plus Hampshire per the county’s. Schools are left out: academies are paid for directly by government, so council school budgets depend on how many schools have converted. Hampshire and England: all their councils together. Police, fire and transport authorities aren’t included.
Band D: MHCLG Band D council tax 2026–27 (each authority’s own figure, excluding parish precepts) and Council Tax statistics for town and parish councils 2026–27; since 1993–94, MHCLG’s area averages including parishes.
Having a say in how Bishop's Sutton is run
It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.
gov.uk ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
winchester.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
winchester.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Bishop's Sutton is run
Which council runs Bishop's Sutton?
Bishop's Sutton is run by Winchester City Council and Hampshire County Council. The county council runs schools, social care and roads; the district runs bins, planning and housing.
Does Bishop's Sutton have a town council?
Yes: Bishop's Sutton has its own parish-tier council (Bishops Sutton parish council; town councils are parish councils by another name), which adds £50 to a Band D bill in 2026–27.
Who is the MP for Bishop's Sutton?
Dr Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat) is the MP for Winchester, which covers Bishop's Sutton.
How many councillors does Bishop's Sutton have?
3 ward councillors represent Bishop's Sutton’s 1 ward, and 1 county councillors its county divisions.
When are the next elections in Bishop's Sutton?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Bishop's Sutton’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
How much is council tax in Bishop's Sutton?
Band D council tax in Bishop's Sutton is £2,317 for 2026–27. Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).
Who controls Winchester City Council?
The Liberal Democrats have a majority: 36 of 45 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who controls Hampshire County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Conservative 27 · Liberal Democrat 26 · Reform UK 20 · Green 1 · Labour 1 · Independent 1 · Community Campaign (Hart) 1 · Whitehill & Bordon Community Party 1 of 78 seats; a majority needs 40.
Who won the 2026 council election in Bishop's Sutton?
In Bishop's Sutton’s wards on 7 May 2026, Liberal Democrat 1 of the 1 seats up. The Liberal Democrats had the largest share of votes, 52.7%.
Sources: ONS ward, county division, parish, constituency lookups (Census 2021 output areas; Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0) and EveryElection · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · MHCLG Band D council tax, parish precepts and Revenue Account budgets 2026–27 (OGL v3.0) · ONS mid-2025 population estimates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.