Police Area Returning Officer (PARO)

Local elections will take place in Southampton on Thursday 2 May 2024.

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Police and Crime Commissioners were introduced in the 41 Police Authorities across England in 2012. They are elected using first-past-the-post and a Police Area Returning Officer (PARO) is appointed to conduct the elections across each area and declare the result. The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police Force Area is made up of 14 local authorities which have Local Returning Officers who are responsible for arranging and delivering the poll for the electors in their area. The number of votes counted in each local area are then collated by the PARO to provide the overall result. The PARO for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police Force Area is Mr Mark Heath who is also the Local Returning Officer for the Southampton area.

The Police Area Returning Officer is responsible for the conduct of the poll and declaration of result only and must remain politically neutral at all times. For this reason we cannot provide political campaign or information about the candidates on these pages. However information from the candidates about their campaigns can be found on the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities website (please note these pages will not be updated until after the close of nominations). In addition, if you would like to know more about the candidates and what they stand for please search for individual candidates and/or party web sites or contact their local offices.

More information (these will be added as they are made available):

• List of Candidates
• Details about the Candidates can be found on the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities pages (please note these pages will not be updated until after the close of nominations)
• Declaration of Results for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police Force Area
• View candidates and other notices

The 14 local authorities which make up the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police Force Area are:

• Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
• East Hampshire District Council
• Eastleigh Borough Council
• Fareham Borough Council
• Gosport Borough Council
• Hart District Council
• Havant Borough Council
• Isle of Wight Council
• New Forest District Council
• Portsmouth City Council
• Rushmoor Borough Council
• Southampton City Council
• Test Valley Borough Council
• Winchester City Council

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