There are seven Divisions in the Winchester City Council area.

These are: 

• Bishops Waltham
• Itchen Valley
• Meon Valley
• Winchester Downlands
• Winchester Eastgate
• Winchester Southern Parishes
• Winchester Westgate 

The County Returning Officer is the Chief Executive of Hampshire County Council, Gary Westbrook. More information about Hampshire County Council can be found on their website. The Deputy Returning Officer is Laura J. Taylor, the person responsible for running the Hampshire County elections in the Winchester area.

To stand a as a candidate in the Hampshire County Council elections , please complete a Nomination pack- Local Government Elections 7 May 2026 ^{(pdf, 402kb)}

Alternatively you can contact the elections office and we will send you a nominations pack. Please contact us by email ereg@winchester.gov.uk or phone 01962 848125.

We recommend candidates and agents read the Electoral Commission guidance for the local elections on the link Electoral Commission website.

Winchester City Council is made up of 16 wards with two or three councillors per ward depending on the size. On Thursday 7 May 2026 there will be one seat for 15 out of 16 of the Winchester City Council District Wards up for election. 

These are:

• Alresford & Itchen Valley
• Badger Farm & Oliver's Battery
• Bishops Waltham
• Central Meon Valley
• Colden Common & Twyford
• Denmead
• Southwick & Wickham
• St. Barnabas
• St. Bartholomew
• St. Michael
• St. Paul
• The Worthys
• Upper Meon Valley
• Whiteley & Shedfield
• Wonston & Micheldever

St Luke ward does not have scheduled elections in 2026. 

The Returning Officer is Laura J. Taylor, the person responsible for running the Winchester City Council District and parish elections.

If you are interested in standing for election to Winchester City Council, further information about becoming a councillor can be found on WCC’s Councillors/Committees website Standing as a Councillor - Winchester City Council.

To stand a as a candidate in the WCC district elections , please complete a Nomination pack- Local Government Elections 7 May 2026 ^{(pdf, 402kb)}

Alternatively you can contact the elections office and we will send you a nominations pack. Please contact us by email ereg@winchester.gov.uk or phone 01962 848125.

We recommend candidates and agents read the Electoral Commission guidance for the District Council on the link Electoral Commission website.

There are 19 parishes that are up for election and these are:

• Bighton
• Bishops Sutton
• Bramdean & Hinton Ampner
• Cheriton
• Colden Common
• Crawley
• Curdridge
• Droxford
• Hambledon
• Headbourne Worthy
• Kilmeston
• Kings Worthy
• Micheldever
• Old Alresford 
• Olivers Battery
• Owslebury
• Soberton
• Sparsholt 
• Tichborne

The Returning Officer is Laura J. Taylor, the person responsible for running the Winchester City Council District and parish elections.

If you are interested in standing for election for a Parish or Town Council within the Winchester area, more information about what is required from councillors in terms of expectation and commitment can be obtained directly from the Parish Clerk.  The contact details for all our parish and town councils can be found on the WCC’s Parish Council’s website Parish councils contact details - Winchester City Council

To stand a as a candidate in the Parish council elections, please complete a Parish Nomination Paper 7 May 2026 ^{(pdf, 387kb)}

Alternatively you can contact the elections office and we will send you a nominations pack. Please contact us by email ereg@winchester.gov.uk or phone 01962 848125.

We recommend candidates read the Electoral Commission guidance for Parish Elections on the link  Electoral Commission website

Nomination papers for these elections must be completed and submitted by hand to the Returning Officer and or Deputy Returning Officer, City Offices, Winchester City Council, Colebrook Street, Winchester SO23 9LJ.

Nomination papers must be submitted between 10am and 4pm from Wednesday 25 March, excluding weekends and bank holidays. The deadline for nominations is 4pm on Thursday 9 April 2026. It is recommended that you book an appointment, please email ereg@winchester.gov.uk or call 01962 848125.

Nomination papers may also be scanned for an informal check to be carried out before the formal submission of nomination papers to the elections team on ereg@winchester.gov.uk. Any errors found will be communicated to the candidate and/or their election agent by email to allow these to be corrected before formal submission. However, it should be noted that the correct completion of the nomination forms remains your responsibility or that of your election agent.

The Electoral Commission have published a video on completing nomination papers which can be viewed on this link Nominations | Electoral Commission

As with national elections, you and your campaigners should also have regard to the Electoral Commission's Code of Conduct for Campaigners, which outlines what is, and what is not, acceptable behaviour at polling stations and in the community during the lead up to polling day.

Election timetable- Thursday 7 May 2026 ^{(pdf, 54kb)}

An online briefing for potential Candidates and Agents will be held on Tuesday 3 March 2026 at 18:00. If you would like to attend, please contact us either by email on ereg@winchester.gov.uk or call us on 01962 848125 to be added to the distribution list for the meeting invitation.