2023 Malvern Hills District Council election

2023 Malvern Hills District Council election

← 2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 31 seats to Malvern Hills District Council 16 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Tom Wells Jeremy Owenson[2] Jules Wood[1] Party Independent Conservative Green Last election 10 seats, 22.2% 13 seats, 28.9% 5 seats, 11.0% Seats before 13 12 5 Seats won 11 7 7 Seat change 1 6 2 Popular vote 10,470 11,538 7,394 Percentage 25.7% 28.3% 18.2% Swing 3.5% 0.6% 7.2%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Kaleem Aksar[3] Sarah Rouse[4] Party Liberal Democrats MH Independents Labour Last election 9 seats, 27.6% N/A 1 seat, 6.9% Seats before 4 3 1 Seats won 3 3 0 Seat change 6 3 1 Popular vote 6,635 2,759 1,717 Percentage 16.3% 6.8% 4.2% Swing 11.3% N/A 2.7%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Malvern Hills District Council election
Leader before election Tom Wells Independent No overall control Leader after election Tom Wells Independent No overall control

The 2023 Malvern Hills District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Malvern Hills District Council in Worcestershire, England.^[5][6] This was on the same day as other local elections in England.

New ward boundaries came into effect for this election, reducing the number of seats on the council from 38 to 31.^[7]

Summary

Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, being led by a coalition of the independents and Greens, led by independent councillor Tom Wells. The Liberal Democrats had also been part of the ruling coalition following the 2019 election, but withdrew from it in 2020.^[3] There had also been a split amongst the independent councillors in 2022 which led to the formation of a new group called the Malvern Hills Independents, which subsequently registered itself as a political party with the Electoral Commission.^[8][4]

Following the election the council remained under no overall control. The independents and Greens both increased their numbers of seats, largely at the expense of the Conservatives, and the independent and Green coalition continued to run the council.^[9]

The Liberal Democrat group leader prior to the election, Kaleem Aksar, did not stand for re-election. They chose Paul Bennett as their new group leader after the election.^[10]

Election result

2023 Malvern Hills District Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent	17	11	2	0	6	35.5	25.7	10,470	+3.5
	Conservative	26	7	0	1	8	22.6	28.3	11,538	–0.6
	Green	12	7	1	0	2	22.6	18.2	7,394	+7.2
	Liberal Democrats	21	3	0	2	6	9.7	16.3	6,635	–11.3
	Malvern Hills Independents	4	3				9.7	6.8	2,759	N/A
	Labour	6	0	0	0	1	0.0	4.2	1,717	–2.7
	Reform UK	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.5	202	N/A

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Malvern Hills District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.^[11] The results for each ward were as follows, with an asterisk (*) indicating an incumbent councillor standing for re-election.^[12][13]

Alfrick, Leigh & Rushwick

Baldwin

Barnards Green

Broadheath

Castlemorton, Welland & Wells

Great Malvern

Hallow & Holt

Kempsey

Lindridge

Link

Longdon

Martley

Pickesleigh

Pickersleigh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Bennett*	212	45.5	–5.8
	Conservative	David Chambers	104	22.3	–2.1
	Labour	Owen Walters	84	18.0	–6.3
	Independent	Caroline Bovey*	66	14.2	N/A
Majority			108	23.2
Turnout			470	23.4
Registered electors			2,011
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	1.9

Powick & the Hanleys

Tenbury

Upper Howsell

Upton & Ripple

West

References

This page was last edited on 11 February 2024, at 08:16