The Conservatives are celebrating after securing a comfortable majority on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council with 33 councillors elected out of a possible 54.

The party scooped significant wins in battleground wards in the all-out elections, gaining two seats in Brookvale & Kings Furlong - their first representation there since 1983.

This will mean the party will have little opposition in pushing forward their agenda for the town and voting on pressing issues such as the ice rink, the Camrose and Anvil Arts.

Basingstoke Labour meanwhile was counting its losses after losing one councillor in Brighton Hill, and two from Buckskin.

The party had also hoped to ‘take back’ the seats it lost in Brookvale & Kings Furlong but only picked up one.

Conservative leader, Cllr Ken Rhatigan, described the result as a “real sense of achievement”.

One of the newly-elected Conservative councillors for Brookvale & Kings Furlong, Cllr Arun Mummalaneni described it as a “victory for an inclusive Basingstoke”, before criticising Labour, saying: “They are out of touch.”

Read eight pages of unrivalled coverage and analysis in this week's Basingstoke Gazette.

Also in this week's paper:

  • Basingstoke is not considered to be a ‘hotspot’ for the ‘double mutant’ India covid variant according to Public Health England, despite online claims suggesting it is.
  • A hospital doctor has urged people to "be kind" after the pandemic after reflecting on the last twelve months.
  • A disabled army veteran who fought for his country in Iraq and Afghanistan has hit out at Basingstoke council after he was fined for parking in an empty parking bay thirty minutes outside the allocated time.
  • The council has tried to justify cutting a hedge where a birds’ nest was found, despite guidance suggesting they should not cut hedges during nesting season.
  • An HGV driver was distracted by betting apps on his mobile phone moments before he “cannoned” into a car that had broken down on the A34 killing a father-of-four.
  • Plus: Two pages of your letters to the editor.
  • The latest cases in Basingstoke Magistrates' Court.
  • The story behind the man who gave his name to the town's Aldworth school.
  • Eight pages of puzzles.
  • The latest from our communities.
  • Three pages of entertainment news.
  • And much more!

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