The county council acts as the upper tier of local government to approximately 1.4 million people.

[7] Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over many administrative functions that had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the Quarter Sessions.

George Sclater-Booth, Lord Basing, a Conservative peer and former Member of Parliament, was appointed the first chairman of the council.

The lower tier of local government was rearranged at the same time, with the county being divided into thirteen non-metropolitan districts.

[14] In 1997 Portsmouth and Southampton regained their independence from the county council when they were made unitary authorities following a review by Local Government Commission for England.

[16] In 2015 the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Government Association unanimously agreed to support a 'pan-Hampshire' combined authority, but the bid was eventually unsuccessful.

The council's main offices and meeting place are at Winchester Castle, parts of which date back to 1067.