For the first election in 1996 the wards of the former Borough of Brighton and Borough of Hove were used. There were originally 26 wards each with three councillors each, totalling 78 councillors in the newly created Brighton and Hove Borough Council:
Brunswick and Adelaide
Goldsmid
Hangleton
Hanover
Hollingbury
Kings Cliff
Marine
Moulsecoomb
Nevill
North Portslade
Patcham
Portslade South
Preston
Queens Park
Regency
Rottingdean
Seven Dials
St. Peters
Stanford
Stanmer
Tenantry
Vallance
Westbourne
Westdene
Wish
Woodingdean
The 2001 boundary review[6][2][3] reduced the wards to 21 wards with a mix of two or three councillors each totalling 54 councillors for the then city council. These boundary were used in the 2003 election for the first time with the following wards: Brunswick and Adelaide, Central Hove, East Brighton, Goldsmid, Hangleton and Knoll, Hanover and Elm Grove, Hollingbury and Stanmer (which then became Hollingdean and Stanmer in 2007), Stanford (which became Hove Park in 2007), Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, North Portslade, Patcham, Preston Park, Queen's Park, Regency, Rottingdean Coastal, South Portslade, St Peter's and North Laine, Westbourne, Wish, Withdean, Woodingdean.[7]
Ward boundaries were reviewed again in 2023, since when the council has comprised 54 councillors representing 23 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The wards are:[8]