ALL council seats in Southampton could soon be up for grabs, it has been revealed.

An all-out election could be called at Southampton City Council in 2023 as part of a review of the city’s electoral boundaries.

This means that the number of councillors as well as the number and size of wards could be changed.

The news comes as Labour lost control of the council to the Conservatives in this year’s elections.

It is not yet known what changes could be made as part of the review.

But council leader Cllr Daniel Fitzhenry said “there could potentially be a new ward” and said central wards such as Bargate, Freemantle and Bevois are now “too big”.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) said it will carry out a review of wards in Southampton  “to ensure that councillors represent about the same number of people across the city”.

An initial public consultation is set to take place between November 23, 2021 and January 31, 2022.

Residents will be asked to have their say on the number and names of wards,  where the boundaries should lie and the number of councillors per ward.

Residents’ views will then be used to draw up a set of proposals for the city.

A second round of public consultations on detailed plans is expected to start in mid-May 2022 with the final recommendation “likely” to be published in September 2022.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England said: “If the order is passed through Parliament, there will be an all-out election in 2023 based on the new electoral arrangements. At this stage we are not able to predict any changes that could be made to the electoral arrangements or which wards in particular will be affected without undergoing public consultation.”

Cllr Fitzhenry said the move will not change the work the administration has planned.

He said: “Between now and then as a council we will be cracking on and deliver on our objective to get Southampton moving and this will not interrupt that. We have just been elected to lead the council, we have our plans and vision and these changes will not affect that.” We are committed to deliver all of our objectives that we have set out by May 2023 and we will ask people to judge us on our results.”

Cllr Fitzhenry said the last review was carried out in 2000.

Cllr Satvir Kaur, leader of the opposition, said she welcomes “any election opportunities to take back the council”.

“There has been a growing imbalance between the sizes of wards within the city, which hopefully can be addressed through this process,” she added.

There are currently 16 wards and 48 councillors in the city.