Community Campaign (Hart)

Community Campaign (Hart)
LeaderJames Radley
Founded2003
IdeologyLocalism
ColoursPurple and White
SloganLocal Politics - It's about where you live
Hampshire county council (Hart seats)
1 / 5
Hart District council seats
11 / 33
Website
cchart.co.uk
Location of Hart District:

Community Campaign (Hart) (CCH) is a minor localist political party based in the district of Hart in the north east of Hampshire. Founded in 2003, it has contested both district and county elections within Hart, and has successfully gained representation in both the district council and county council, and has formed part of the district council administration. CCH is one of several successful independent groups in Hampshire, with both the Isle of Wight Council and Basingstoke and Deane also being administered by independents.

The first CCH councillors were elected in 2004, with numbers increasing over the next few years; as of 2026 there are 11. The party is in administration of the council in coalition with the Liberal Democrats since 2017, with 24 seats between them out of 33. Councillor James Radley is Deputy Leader of the council, also holding portfolio for Finance.

History

Community Campaign Hart was formed at a meeting in 2003 attended by several local councillors, with an election strategy meeting taking place before the 2004 local elections. In the subsequent 2004 district council election, CCH candidates stood in five seats, gaining two (Church Crookham East and Church Crookham West) from the Conservatives, achieving 15% of the overall vote. In the 2006 election 3 new councillors were elected in Church Crookham East and Crondall, with another councillor elected in 2007 to the Fleet Courtmoor ward, bringing the number of CCH Councillors to 6. James Radley successfully defended his Church Crookham East seat in 2008, but the CCH candidate for Crondall did not win the seat from the Conservative incumbent.

Whilst no candidate stood in the 2005 Hampshire County Council Election, in 2009 Jenny Radley gained the seat of Church Crookham and Ewshot from the Conservative Party, with 3,822 votes (66.54%). In the 2010 Hart District Council Election, despite the CCH vote share increasing by 5.2, CCH incumbent John Bennison lost his Crondall seat to the Conservative candidate, who received 1,144 votes (51.9%) against Bennison's 1,059 (48.1%), though two other CCH incumbents retained their seats. The vote share then fell by 2.8 in 2011, but with the two CCH seats being defended successfully.

In the 2012 election, two more councillors were elected with a vote increase of 5.3, gaining the Crondall and Fleet Courtmoor seats from the Conservative incumbents. Councillor John Bennison, who had formerly been the CCH councillor for Crondall, defended the Church Crookham and Ewshot Division ward of Hampshire County Council in 2013, as the party's sole county councillor. In 2014 the number of seats on the council was reduced by two to 33, with redefined ward boundaries; in the 2014 election, CCH won nine seats, an increase of two and with a slightly increased vote share. CCH held talks with the Conservatives and Lib Dems about forming an administration. However, in 2015, John Bennison lost his Fleet Central Seat to the Conservative candidate (whilst remaining on the County Council), but with the party subsequently successfully defending the three seats up for re-election in 2016. That December, two councillors defected from the Conservatives to CCH, citing disagreements over the Local Plan. In 2017 John Bennison defended his county council, with a slightly increased vote share. Alan Oliver of the party also stood in the Fleet Town Ward, coming second after the Conservatives with 2,227 votes (39.22%). This is out of five councillors from Hart itself, alongside two Conservatives, and two Liberal Democrats.

Joint administration

It was in June 2017. with 10 seats, that CCH joined the Liberal Democrats, on eight seats, in running the district council, with Lib Dem David Neighbour elected leader of the council and each party sharing cabinet posts equally. In 2017, a CCH-sponsored report for the district council recommended not allowing development on most council-owned brownfield land.

In the 2018 District Council election, the Angela Delaney gained Fleet West from the Conservative party with three further seats successfully defended, bringing the total number of councillors up to nine.

In the 2019 district election, two seats were successfully defended, with a further two gained from the Conservatives; the Conservatives were now the joint-largest party on the council with CCH, both on 11. Community Campaign alongside the Liberal Democrats formed a majority administration of 21 seats (out of 33 total); Liberal Democrat Councillor David Neighbour became leader of the Council, with Community Campaign Hart Leader James Radley becoming the Deputy Leader, with several CCH councillors gaining portfolio positions. A proposed garden village in Hart proved controversial on social media that year; CCH, who had been reluctant to engage on social media, said some of the comments were potentially defamatory.

Hart District Council elections were originally scheduled to occur in 2020, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they were delayed and held in 2021, alongside the scheduled Hampshire County Council elections. The paid garden green bin service CCH helped negotiate with Serco in 2018 was suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic. with further cancellations in 2021; CCH was unapologetic.

In the 2021 district election, CCH was the incumbent administration with the Lib Dems. Fleet Central, held by Wendy Makepeace-Browne, was gained by Mark Butcher of the Conservatives with a majority of 378 votes. CCH therefore dropped to 10 seats.

In the 2021 Hampshire County Council election John Bennison lost his county council seat, to Stephen Parker of the Conservatives, by 285 votes.

In the May 2022 district election, CCH was defending four seats and went in with 10 councillors. They held four seats in May 2023.

The 2024 district election on 2 May saw CCH and the Lib Dems gain seats from the Conservatives, with CCH back up to 11 by retaking Fleet Central.

In the 2026 County Council election, CCH retook the seat they lost in 2021 and the Conservatives lost overall control of the council. Whitehill & Bordon Community Party also held their seat. After the 2026 district elections, Radley remained deputy leader and CCH also held the vice chairship, and the Finance, Development Management, Parking Waste Services, Community Safety and Regulatory Services, and Digital and Communications portfolios.

Electoral performance

CCH campaigns on local issues rather than national politics, has no national affiliation, and only stands locally to Hart.

District Council elections

Year Votes % +/- Seats Council Control
2004 2,821 15.0%
centre
2 / 33
 Conservative
2006 2,967 15.6% Increase 0.6
5 / 33
 No overall control
2007 1,791 10.6% Decrease 5.0
6 / 33
2008 1,459 8.7% Decrease 1.9
6 / 33
2010 4,773 13.9% Increase 5.2
5 / 33
 Conservative
2011 2,454 11.1% Decrease 2.8
5 / 33
2012 2,457 16.4% Increase 5.3
7 / 33
 No overall control
2014 5,358 16.9% Increase 0.5
9 / 33
2015 6,745 13.4% Decrease 3.5
8 / 33
2016 4,647 19.0% Increase 5.6
8 / 33
2018 5,368 20.7% Increase 1.7
9 / 33
2019 6,341 22.9% Increase 2.2
11 / 33
2021 6,163 18.7% Decrease 4.2
10 / 33
2022 5,492 20.4% Increase 1.7
10 / 33
2023 4,595 17.5% Decrease 2.9
10 / 33
2024 5,073 20.0% Increase 2.5
11 / 33
2026 4,948 14.33 Decrease 5.7
11 / 33

County Council elections

Since 2009, Community Campaign Hart has stood for council elections, standing in Church Crookham and Ewshot in all three elections since, and in Fleet Town in 2017, coming second with 2,227 votes (39.22%), behind the Conservatives with 2,735 votes (48.16%). There are five county council wards in Hart out of 78, compared to 32 district council seats.

2009

Church Crookham and Ewshot
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
CCH Jenny Radley 3822 66.54
Conservative Pritpal Singh 1744 30.88
Labour Jim White 148 2.58
Majority 2048 35.66
Turnout 5744 44.66 −21.96
CCH gain from Conservative Swing

2013

Church Crookham and Ewshot
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
CCH John Bennison 2367 54.48
Conservative Wallace Vincent 1167 26.86
UKIP Nigel Johnson 579 13.33
Labour Ruth Williams 232 5.34
Majority
Turnout 4345 32.54 −12.12
CCH hold Swing

2017

Church Crookham & Ewshot
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
CCH John Bennison 3055 55
Conservative Stephen Alexander Gorys 1787 32
Labour Clive Astin 324 6
Green Chas Spradbery 188 3
UKIP Dawn Moors 176 3
Majority 1268
Turnout 5530 39
CCH hold Swing
Fleet Town
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Steve Forster 2735 48
CCH Alan John Oliver 2227 39
Labour Sam Butler 483 9
UKIP Alan Harry Langridge 155 3
Monster Raving Loony Howling Laud Hope 78 1
Majority 508
Turnout 5678 40
Conservative gain from New Ward Swing

2021

Church Crookham & Ewshot
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
CCH John Bennison 2391 38
Conservative Stephen George Parker 2676 43
Labour Andrew Perkins 384 6
Liberal Democrats Christine Oldfield 739 12
Majority 285
Turnout 6233 42
Conservative gain from CCH Swing
Fleet Town
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Steve Forster 3,571 54 +6
CCH Alan Oliver 1,386 21 −18
Liberal Democrats Peter Wildsmith 1,063 16 New
Labour Mike Mellor 452 7 −2
Reform Roy Fang 102 2 New
Majority 2,185
Turnout 6,574 44
Conservative hold Swing

2026

Church Crookham & Ewshot
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
CCH Alan Oliver 2,594 37.7
Conservative Jon Farmer 1,686 24.5
Reform Cancice Walmsley 1,663 24.2
Green Sven Saar 639 9.3
Labour Adam Coulthard 300 4.4
Rejected ballots 24
Turnout 6882
Registered electors 15,205
CCH gain from Conservative

Notes

  1. ↑ There are 78 seats in Hampshire County Council, with five single-member wards in the Hart district
  2. ↑ New Ward Boundaries

References

  1. ↑ Hudson, Emily (5 May 2026). "Is political change coming to the South this week?". BBC News.
  2. ↑ "COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN GROUP". fm.cchart.org.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "Minutes_050304". fm.cchart.org.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  4. ↑ Gregory, Chris (6 June 2014). "Three-party coalition talks held in Hart". Basingstoke Gazette.
  5. ↑ "Hart Councillors release statement about their defection from Tories to CCH". We Heart Hart. 3 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "Neighbour wins leadership race". Farnham Herald. 6 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "Hart SANG plan to obstruct brownfield development". We Heart Hart. 4 October 2017.
  8. 1 2 Strudwick, Matt (3 May 2019). "Tories lose seats in Hart, but fight off backlash to keep control of Rushmoor". SurreyLive.
  9. ↑ "New Chairman and Cabinet Portfolios for Hart District Council | Hart District Council". www.hart.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 12 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Community Campaign Hart – Confusion, Controversy and Court". For Fleet's Sake. 26 September 2019.
  11. ↑ "Green bin fiasco goes from bad to worse". For Fleet's Sake. 12 August 202.
  12. 1 2 3 Stanley, Megan (8 May 2021). "Hart local election results: Conservatives gain one seat but not enough to secure an overall majority". HampshireLive.
  13. ↑ "Declaration of result of poll | Hart District Council" (PDF). www.hart.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  14. ↑ Blank, Daniel (26 April 2022). "Hart Local Elections 2022: Meet all the people vying for your vote in May". Hampshire Live.
  15. 1 2 Cullum, Jemma (6 May 2023). "All parties hold seats in Hart District Council". Basingstoke Gazette.
  16. 1 2 Stanley, Megan (3 May 2024). "Conservatives hold onto Hook, Hartley Wintney and Odiham". Basingstoke Gazette.
  17. ↑ Roberts, Emily (8 May 2026). "Hampshire County Council elections 2026: What happens next". Basingstoke Gazette.
  18. ↑ "New Chair and Cabinet members for Hart". Hart District Council. 22 May 2026.
  19. ↑ Forero, Natalia (27 April 2026). "Parties contesting Hampshire County Council elections set out views". Southern Daily Echo.
  20. ↑ https://democracy.hants.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?XXR=0&ID=731