New battle lines will be drawn tomorrow as the town’s politicians prepare to fight the first elections with new ward boundaries.

As part of cost-cutting measures, the number of councillors on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council will be cut from 60 to 54. With that, comes changes in the boundaries of each ward, changing the battlegrounds for the first time since 2008.

Therefore, it is hard to anticipate how exactly the results will go. But as ever in elections, certain parties will be more popular in certain areas, and by looking at historic results in the predecessor wards, we can predict which wards may be closest fought.

Of course, all votes count, and the best way to have your say in how the borough is ruled is to get out to the ballot box.

Three councillors will be elected from each of the 18 wards across the borough.

Winklebury & Manydown

A new ward for this year, Winklebury & Manydown will encompass the currently-held Labour area of Winklebury, the village of Wooton St Lawrence and a large parcel of farmland that will soon become Manydown.

Development there will not begin for a while, meaning the political make-up of this ward will likely change drastically.

But it's been the centre of much political posturing - not only has the spotlight been shone on it in terms of Manydown and the regeneration of Winklebury, but it's seen the chairman of the Conservative party visit in 2019 and Labour's shadow armed forces minister visit on the campaign trail last week.

Conservative leader Ken Rhatigan said they would be “silly” not to see it as a potential gain.

Candidates:

  • Abigail Compton-Burnett (Conservative)
  • Sean Dillow (CON)
  • Declan Embley (Labour)
  • Angie Freeman (LAB)
  • Alex Lee (LAB)
  • Wendy McKay (Liberal Democrat)
  • Scott Neville (Hampshire Independents)
  • Mike Patchett (CON)

Kempshott & Buckskin

These two areas, which were up until now separate wards, could well prove to be decisive if the vote is on a knife-edge.

Kempshott is currently Conservative-controlled, and in each of the last three elections (2019, 2018, 2016), the Conservative candidate has taken more than 60 per cent of the vote.

In stark contrast, Buckskin has comfortably elected Labour councillors for the past two elections.

The combination of these two contrasting political areas will make for an interesting watch on results day.

Candidates:

  • David Bell (Labour)
  • Richard Court (Conservative)
  • Hayley Eachus (CON)
  • Bill Farrington (Green)
  • Walter McCormick (LAB)
  • Stav O'Doherty (Liberal Democrat)
  • Aji Peter (CON)
  • Karl Stewart (LAB)
  • David White (Hampshire Independents)
  • Marion Wolstencroft (LDM)

Brighton Hill

Brighton Hill is another new ward that is a combination of two previous wards.

The area is currently served by three Labour councillors and one Liberal Democrat.

But a Conservative councillor won in Brighton Hill North as recently as 2015, and all parties will be hoping to make gains here on Thursday.

Candidates:

  • Andrea Bowes (Liberal Democrat)
  • Simon Carr (Conservative)
  • Andy Konieczko (LDM)
  • Andy McCormick (Labour)
  • Ben McDonnell (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)
  • Stephen Rolfe (LAB)
  • William Rouse (CON)
  • Praveen Singh (CON)
  • Alan Stone (Hampshire Independents)
  • Kim Taylor (LAB)
  • Peter Whitaker (LDM)

Whitchurch, Overton & Laverstoke

There is an interesting dynamic to this ward, made up of the old wards of Whitchurch, and Overton, Laverstoke & Steventon.

Currently represented by BDI and Conservative, it seems to be another highly-coveted ward among the parties; three Liberal Democrat candidates seem to indicate this is a target for them, too.

Overton elected Labour and independent councillors in the last two elections whilst Whitchurch elected Conservative and Labour councillors.

But following the creation of the BDI group in 2019, the wards are currently represented by three BDIs and one Conservative.

It could be a ward where name may be important than party.

Candidates:

  • James Aris (Conservative)
  • Marc Connor (Labour)
  • Lucie Follett Maitland (Independent)
  • Alex Hands (Liberal Democrat)
  • Adi Harris (LDM)
  • Robert Holliday (Hampshire Independents)
  • Johanna Perry (CON)
  • Colin Phillimore (Basingstoke and Deane Independent Group)
  • Jonathan Richards (CON)
  • Lucy Sloane Williams (LDM)
  • Ian Tilbury (BDI)