2023 Canterbury City Council election

2023 Canterbury City Council election
All 39 seats to Canterbury City Council; 20 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	38.0%
	Winner of each seat at the 2023 Canterbury City Council election
Leader before election; Ben Fitter-Harding; Conservative; No overall control	Leader after election ; Alan Baldock; Labour; No overall control

The 2023 Canterbury City Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Canterbury City Council in Kent, England.^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections in England.

The Conservatives held a majority on the council from 2005 until April 2023, less than a month before the election, when four Conservatives left the party to form the "Independent Serve to Lead Group".^[2]^[3]

The election saw the council remain under no overall control, but the Conservatives went from being the largest party to being the third largest party behind Labour and the Liberal Democrats.^[4] The leader of the council, Conservative councillor Ben Fitter-Harding, lost his seat.^[5] After the election a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition formed to take control of the council, with Labour group leader Alan Baldock being appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 17 May 2023.^[6]

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[5]

[6]

18	9	8	4
Labour	Lib Dems	Conservative	Green

2023 Canterbury City Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	39	18	10	2	8	46.1	36.6	29,825	+7.2
	Liberal Democrats	34	9	4	1	3	23.1	22.0	17,935	+2.3
	Conservative	39	8	0	15	15	20.5	24.4	19,867	-11.0
	Green	25	4	4	0	4	10.3	13.9	11,350	+1.4
	Independent	6	0	0	0		0.0	2.8	2,259	+0.5
	Reform	3	0	0	0		0.0	0.3	296	N/A

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Connie Nolan*	1,476	53.5	+18.2
	Labour	Pat Edwards*	1,405	50.9	+15.5
	Labour	Paul Prentice	1,257	45.6	+15.8
	Conservative	Martin Antony Arch	718	26.0	+3.0
	Conservative	Scott Collins	605	21.9	–0.2
	Conservative	Mary Cawston Streater	555	20.1	–1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Duplock	397	14.4	–15.0
	Liberal Democrats	George Fenwick Metcalfe	374	13.6	–14.4
	Liberal Democrats	Julia Dorothea Zoettl	345	12.5	–12.3
	Green	Delia Hazrati	320	11.6	–10.1
	Green	Mary Claire Smith	297	10.8	N/A
	Green	Nathan James Tough	227	8.2	N/A
Turnout			2,759	36.5	+1.3
Registered electors			7,555
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Stockley*	944	47.3	–2.9
	Conservative	Jeanette Stockley*	940	47.1	–2.2
	Labour	Teresa Pearce	454	22.8	+6.0
	Labour	Christine Wheeldon	425	21.3	+5.3
	Green	Nicholas Gadsby	417	20.9	–1.9
	Green	Roger Everatt	253	12.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Anderson	200	10.0	–10.8
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Smith	156	7.8	–2.5
Turnout			1,994	34.0	+2.0
Registered electors			5,913
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Ricketts*	1,214	60.5	+28.9
	Liberal Democrats	Steph Jupe	1,035	51.6	+22.4
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Smith*	944	47.1	+17.8
	Labour	Nicola May	444	22.1	–1.4
	Green	Alexander Hilton	398	19.8	–2.2
	Labour	Howard Needham	383	19.1	–3.1
	Labour	Sam Newman	367	18.3	–2.4
	Conservative	James Somerville-Meikle	329	16.4	–13.7
	Conservative	Gary Ovenden	299	14.9	–12.7
	Conservative	Timothy Streater	281	14.0	–8.4
Turnout			2,006	35.0	±0.0
Registered electors			4,155
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats hold

2023 Canterbury City Council election

Election result

Ward results

Barton

Beltinge

Blean Forest

Chartham and Stone Street

Chestfield

Gorrell

Greenhill

Herne & Broomfield

Heron

Little Stour & Adisham

Nailbourne

Northgate

Reculver

Seasalter

St Stephens

Sturry

Swalecliffe

Tankerton

West Bay

Westgate

Wincheap

By-elections

Gorrell

Herne & Broomfield

St Stephen's

Wincheap

References

Related Articles

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Alister Brady	1,169	47.9	+20.3
	Labour Co-op	Mike Bland	1,153	47.3	+20.4
	Conservative	Laura Hobbs	593	24.3	–13.0
	Conservative	Elliot Curryer	567	23.2	–12.3
	Liberal Democrats	Yvonne Hawkins	485	19.9	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats	James Galloway	407	16.7	+5.2
	Green	Greg Lawrence	338	13.9	–7.9
Turnout			2,440	43.0	±0.0
Registered electors			5,667
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Old	1,381	54.7	+37.4
	Liberal Democrats	James Flanagan	1,358	53.8	+36.6
	Conservative	Steve Bailey	649	25.7	–29.2
	Conservative	Benjamin Fitter-Harding	489	19.4	–34.9
	Labour	Philippa Langton	349	13.8	–2.6
	Labour	Sammy Roberts	256	10.1	–2.9
	Reform	Adrian Kibble	122	4.8	N/A
	Independent	Joseph Egerton	106	4.2	N/A
	Reform	Leslie Lilley	101	4.0	N/A
Turnout			2,523	45.0	+10.0
Registered electors			5,664
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Clare Turnbull*	2,045	57.5	+18.8
	Labour	Chris Cornell*	1,643	46.2	+3.9
	Green	Steven Wheeler	1,492	41.9	+15.2
	Labour	Valerie Kenny*	1,392	39.1	+0.1
	Labour	Dan Allen	1,293	36.4	–5.9
	Green	Tom Sharp	1,215	34.2	+15.2
	Conservative	Georgia Bills	434	12.2	–14.3
	Conservative	Janet Newcombe	426	12.0	–9.1
	Conservative	Penelope Wilson	405	11.4	–9.2
Turnout			3,557	43.0	+2.0
Registered electors			8,357
	Green gain from Labour
	Labour hold
	Green gain from Labour

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dan Watkins*	421	46.7	+0.5
	Labour	Andy Davidson	350	38.8	+13.9
	Liberal Democrats	Valerie Ainscough	130	14.4	N/A
Majority			71	7.9
Turnout			909	27.0	±0.0
Registered electors			3,346
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.7

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Jones	812	43.6	–6.2
	Conservative	Joe Howes*	722	38.8	–16.0
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Maslin	446	24.0	+0.6
	Labour	Chris Gibson	421	22.6	+5.2
	Labour	Karen Douglas	419	22.5	+8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Brain McHenry	291	15.6	+3.1
	Independent	Anne Dekker*	197	10.6	N/A
	Green	Alex Stevens	169	9.1	–6.4
	Green	Tom Williams	117	6.3	N/A
Turnout			1,862	28.0	+1.0
Registered electors			6,751
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Mellish	1,079	37.3	+12.0
	Conservative	Liz Harvey	1,037	35.8	–8.3
	Conservative	David Thomas*	1,030	35.6	–4.2
	Labour	Emma Wright	1,023	35.3	+13.1
	Labour	Fred Pearce	1,019	35.2	+13.9
	Conservative	Jane Thomas	978	33.8	–2.9
	Green	Michael Vince	656	22.7	–1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Flaherty	600	20.7	+8.0
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Ashton	329	11.4	–0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Latchmi Old	229	7.9	–3.1
Turnout			2,896	30.0	+1.0
Registered electors			9,655
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lee Castle	1,161	72.0	+45.5
	Conservative	Hilary Scott	310	19.2	–22.3
	Labour	Paul O'Neil	142	8.8	–8.4
Majority			851	52.8	N/A
Turnout			1,625	50.0	+6.0
Registered electors			3,274
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	33.9

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Sole*	1,341	84.0	+34.1
	Conservative	Cerise Harriss	170	10.6	–25.1
	Labour	Mike Holman	86	5.4	–1.5
Majority			1,171	73.4
Turnout			1,607	51.0	–2.0
Registered electors			3,130
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	29.6

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Alan Baldock*	682	64.1	+9.8
	Labour Co-op	Jean Butcher*	682	64.1	+14.4
	Green	Martin Baker	177	16.6	+0.6
	Conservative	Eamon O'Reilly	161	15.1	–7.6
	Conservative	Louie Ralph	156	14.7	–6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Leggatt	97	9.1	–3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Pope	93	8.7	–0.8
Turnout			1,064	28.0	±0.0
Registered electors			3,787
	Labour Co-op hold
	Labour Co-op hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rachel Carnac*	534	49.1	–8.2
	Labour	Barbara Ayling	321	29.5	+6.6
	Green	Stephen Peckham	135	12.4	+3.5
	Liberal Democrats	John Bowley	97	8.9	–2.1
Majority			213	19.6
Turnout			1,092	34.0	+1.0
Registered electors			3,237
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.4

Seasalter (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Naomi Smith	927	36.6	+12.6
	Labour	Charlotte Cornell	826	32.6	+8.9
	Independent	Ashley Clark*	825	32.5	N/A
	Independent	Colin Spooner*	789	31.1	N/A
	Conservative	Stephen Spencer	675	26.6	–27.6
	Conservative	Graham Wells	657	25.9	–26.0
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Mackechnie	114	4.5	–5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Dowling	113	4.5	–4.3
Turnout			2,535	41.0	+3.0
Registered electors			6,156
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative

Sturry (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry McKenzie	783	37.5	+12.2
	Labour	Keji Moses	658	31.5	+10.8
	Conservative	Louise Harvey-Quirke*	656	31.4	–6.2
	Conservative	Georgina Glover*	623	29.8	–5.4
	Green	Peter Campbell	418	20.0	–2.1
	Green	Nicole David	270	12.9	–7.7
	Independent	Ken Dekker	173	8.3	N/A
	Independent	Heather Taylor	169	8.1	–14.0
	Liberal Democrats	Eleodor Berceanu	136	6.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Sole	132	6.3	N/A
Turnout			2,090	33.0	±0.0
Registered electors			6,271
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative

Swalecliffe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Keith Bothwell	769	55.3	+39.4
	Conservative	Mark Dance*	370	26.6	–19.7
	Labour	Alex Wescomb	178	12.8	–18.0
	Reform	Edna Wallace	73	5.3	N/A
Turnout			1,397	44.0	+7.0
Registered electors			3,206
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing	29.6

Tankerton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Simon Warley	713	48.8	+17.2
	Conservative	Neil Baker*	560	38.4	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Parry	187	12.8	–21.2
Majority			153	10.4	N/A
Turnout			1,469	51.0	+5.0
Registered electors			2,857
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	6.6

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Mel Dawkins	1,167	59.8	+28.3
	Labour Co-op	Elizabeth Carr-Ellis	1,057	54.2	+20.3
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Palmer	366	18.8	–2.4
	Green	Gillian Everatt	314	16.1	–2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Capper	288	14.8	–6.3
	Conservative	Louie McNamara	273	14.0	–21.0
	Conservative	Owen Sweetman	266	13.6	–17.1
Turnout			1,951	39.0	–1.0
Registered electors			4,975
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative
	Labour Co-op hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Andrew Harvey	599	56.0	+39.9
	Conservative	Grace Paget	339	31.7	–16.8
	Labour	Brendan Little	131	12.3	–11.3
Majority			260	24.3	N/A
Turnout			1,076	34.0	+5.0
Registered electors			3,170
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing	28.4

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pip Hazelton*	975	44.7	+10.0
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Dixey*	936	44.7	+4.4
	Labour	Rosanna Jackson	802	38.3	+3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Parkinson	636	30.3	–1.5
	Green	Benjamin Grillet	321	15.3	+5.3
	Conservative	Rosemary Doyle	196	9.4	–0.9
	Conservative	John Hippisley	163	7.8	–1.9
Turnout			2,096	38.0	–3.0
Registered electors			5,565
	Labour hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dane Buckman	1,027	41.7	+11.5
	Liberal Democrats	Roben Franklin	971	39.4	–8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Amina Inua	946	38.4	±0.0
	Labour Co-op	Paul Todd	891	36.1	+9.1
	Green	Julie Ellis	403	16.3	–1.3
	Conservative	Phil Collins	276	11.2	–2.9
	Conservative	Ronald McWilliams	248	10.1	–3.6
Turnout			2,465	39.0	–3.0
Registered electors			6,266
	Labour Co-op gain from Liberal Democrats
	Liberal Democrats hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Stuart Heaver	1,210	49.5	–0.1
	Labour	Valerie Kenny	570	23.3	–16.6
	Reform	Babychan Thomas	423	17.3	N/A
	Conservative	Janet Newcombe	179	7.3	–3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Parry	64	2.6	N/A
Majority			640	26.2	N/A
Turnout			2,453	28.7	–14.3
Registered electors			8,551
	Green hold		Swing	8.3

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Grace Paget	557	40.7	+1.0
	Reform	Mark Mulvihill	473	34.6	N/A
	Labour	Lawrence Coomber	196	14.3	–6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Maslin	102	7.5	–14.3
	Green	Peter Campbell	41	3.0	–5.3
Majority			84	6.1	N/A
Turnout			1,373	20.1	–7.9
Registered electors			6,837
	Conservative hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Beth Forrester	628	47.0	–8.0
	Reform	Colin Spooner	245	18.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Palmer	220	16.5	–0.8
	Conservative	Arjan Taylor	128	9.6	–3.3
	Green	Jessie Millner	116	8.7	–6.1
Majority			383	28.7	N/A
Turnout			1,342	26.4	–12.6
Registered electors			5,077
	Labour hold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Peter Campbell	842	39.1	+24.0
	Liberal Democrats	Guy Meurice	518	24.1	−12.2
	Reform	Colin Spooner	351	16.3	N/A
	Labour	Jasmin Dallos-Foreman	276	12.8	−25.6
	Conservative	Elliot Curryer	166	7.7	−2.6
Majority			324	15.0	N/A
Turnout			2,163	33.3	–5.7
Registered electors			6,501
	Green gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	18.1

v t e Council elections in Kent
Kent County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1965 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Ashford Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Canterbury City Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Dartford Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Dover District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Folkestone & Hythe District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Gravesham Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Maidstone Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Medway Council	1997 2000 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Sevenoaks District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Swale Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2015 2019 2023
Thanet District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Rochester-upon-Medway City Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 Abolished
Gillingham Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes