Hants council leader re-elected after 'tough campaign'

Cllr Nick Adams-King retained his seat for the Conservatives in the Romsey Rural division at the election held on Friday, May 8, securing another term representing the area.

Speaking after the result, Cllr Adams-King said he was pleased to secure re-election and thanked fellow candidates for what he described as a positive campaign.

He said: "I’m delighted to be re‑elected in Romsey Rural, and slightly relieved as well. It’s been a really tough campaign, but I’d like to thank the other candidates for making it a really positive one as well.

"It’s clearly not, at the moment, the same result across the county, but I’m delighted to see so many of my colleagues being returned, and far better than the initial predictions that said we’d only have 14 seats at the end of the night.

"We’ve already got as many as that, with many more results to come. So it’s a positive night, and I think it is a reflection of all of the hard work that we’ve put in, not just over the last six weeks of the campaign, but over the last five years of running the council in a competent, professional and efficient way."

Cllr Adams-King secured 3,999 votes, comfortably ahead of Liberal Democrat candidate Victoria Burbidge with 1,740 votes and Reform UK’s Gary Cooper with 1,623. Green Party candidate Matthew Smith received 503 votes, while Labour’s Adrian Field polled 199.

Turnout in Romsey Rural was 50.8 per cent.

The result marks a hold for the Conservatives in the division, with Cllr Adams-King returning to the authority as council leader amid a changing political picture across Hampshire.