East Hampshire

East Hampshire is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in the town of Petersfield, although the largest town is Alton. The district also contains the town of Bordon along with many villages and surrounding rural areas.

Parts of the district lie within the South Downs National Park. The neighbouring districts are Havant, Winchester, Basingstoke and Deane, Hart, Waverley and Chichester.

History
East Hampshire was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of four former districts which were all abolished at the same time: The district was originally proposed to be called Petersfield. The shadow authority elected in 1973 to oversee the transition to the new system requested a change of name to East Hampshire, which was confirmed by the government on 8 October 1973, before the new district formally came into being.
 * Alton Rural District
 * Alton Urban District
 * Petersfield Rural District
 * Petersfield Urban District

Between 2009 and 2022 the council shared a chief executive with neighbouring Havant Borough Council.

Governance
East Hampshire District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hampshire County Council. The whole district is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

In the parts of the district within the South Downs National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the South Downs National Park Authority. The district council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 27-person National Park Authority.

Political control
The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election, being led by a coalition of the Conservatives and local party the Whitehill and Bordon Community Party.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership
The leaders of the council since 1999 have been:

Composition
Following the 2023 election, the composition of the council was:

The next election is due in 2027.

Premises
The council is based at Penns Place on the eastern outskirts of Petersfield.

Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 43 councillors representing 31 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.



Settlements and parishes
East Hampshire is entirely covered by civil parishes. The parish councils of Alton, Petersfield and Whitehill (where the largest settlement is Bordon) take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council.

Settlements in East Hampshire include:


 * Alton
 * Beech, Bentley, Bentworth, Binsted, Blackmoor, Blendworth, Bordon, Bramshott, Bucks Horn Oak, Buriton
 * Catherington, Chawton, Clanfield, Colemore
 * East Meon, East Tisted, East Worldham, Empshott
 * Farringdon, Finchdean, Four Marks, Froxfield
 * Golden Pot, Grayshott, Greatham
 * Hawkley, Headley, Headley Down, High Cross, Holybourne, Horndean
 * Kingsley
 * Langrish, Lasham, Lindford, Liphook, Liss, Lower Froyle, Lower Wield
 * Medstead
 * Neatham, Newton Valence, North Street
 * Petersfield, Priors Dean
 * Ropley, Ropley Dean, Rowlands Castle
 * Selborne, Shalden, Sheet, Steep, Stroud
 * Upper Froyle, Upper Wield
 * West Tisted, West Worldham, Weston, Whitehill