Following a boundary review, the number of wards in the city was reduced to 34, with each electing one, two or three Councillors.

[1] The overall number of Councillors remained 70, with all seats up for election at the same time.

[2] The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats contested all 70 seats.

The Green Party stood 59 candidates, TUSC 18, UKIP 10 and the Wessex Regionalists 1.

This result had the following consequences for the total number of seats on the council after the elections: Prior to the election the composition of the council was: After the election the composition of the council was: Lib Dem - Liberal Democrats U - UK Independence Party (UKIP) *On 22 April 2016, it was announced that Satnam Singh had been suspended from the Labour Party for failing to disclose prior convictions for selling illegal tobacco and drugs.