2024 Portsmouth City Council election

Portsmouth was created as a unitary authority in 1997. Labour controlled the council from its creation until 2000, when the council fell into no overall control.^[2] The Liberal Democrats first won the council in 2010, and held a majority until 2014.^[3] The Conservatives ran the council as a minority administration, with support from UKIP,^[4] until 2018, when the Liberal Democrats formed a minority administration which has governed Portsmouth since.^[5] In the previous election, the Liberal Democrats won 7 seats (up 1) with 29.3% of the vote, Labour won 2 with 27.5%, the Conservatives won 1 (down 5) with 19.6%, the Portsmouth Independent Party won 3 (up 3) with 16.2%, and independents won 1 (up 1) with 2.1%.

The seats up for election in 2024 were last contested in 2021; because of the delay of all local elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the seats are up for election after 3 years rather than the usual 4. In that election, the Conservatives gained 1 seat with 36.0% of the vote, the Liberal Democrats lost 2 with 26.6%, Labour held their 2 seats up for election with 28.0%, and independents gained 1 with 3.7%.