2023 Cherwell District Council election

2023 Cherwell District Council election

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
16 out of 48 seats to Cherwell District Council 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Barry Wood Sean Woodcock David Hingley Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats Last election 25 seats, 38.4% 10 seats, 24.8% 7 seats, 26.4% Seats before 25 9 7 Seats won 3 5 5 Seats after 20 12 10 Seat change 5 3 3 Popular vote 12,735 9,641 9,461 Percentage 34.0% 25.7% 25.2% Swing 4.8% 0.9% 1.2%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Ian Middleton Party Green Independent Last election 2 seats, 7.7% 4 seats, 2.6% Seats before 2 5 Seats won 2 1 Seats after 3 3 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 4,160 1,486 Percentage 11.1% 4.0% Swing 3.4% 1.4%
The winner of each ward in the 2023 Cherwell District Council Election
Leader before election Barry Wood Conservative Leader after election Barry Wood Conservative No overall control

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

The Conservatives lost control of the council to no overall control.^[2] Attempts to form a coalition of the other parties failed to produce an alternative administration. The Conservative leader of the council, Barry Wood, was removed from office at the council's annual meeting on 17 May 2023, but as the council could not agree on a replacement leader the meeting was then adjourned until 23 May 2023. No alternative leader who could command a majority had emerged by then either, and so Barry Wood was reinstated as leader, in charge of a Conservative minority administration.^[3]

Green party leader Ian Middleton said this was because the Labour Party National Executive Committee had told the local Labour Party that they could not have any Green or Independent councillors in roles in the Executive.^[4]

Overall results

The overall results were as follows:^[5]

2023 Cherwell District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	3	5	18.8	17	20	41.7	12,735	34.0	-4.8
	Labour	5	3	31.3	7	12	25.0	9,641	25.7	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	5	3	31.3	5	10	20.8	9,461	25.2	-1.2
	Green	2	1	12.5	1	3	6.3	4,160	11.1	+3.4
	Independent	1	2	6.3	2	3	6.3	1,486	4.0	+1.4

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Cherwell District Council following the close of nominations on 4 April 2023.^[6] The results for each ward were:^[7]

Adderbury, Bloxham and Bodicote

Adderbury, Bloxham and Bodicote

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Pattenden	1,540	53.6	−6.3
	Conservative	David Bunn	913	31.8	+1.8
	Labour	Helen Oldfield	345	12.0	+1.9
	Independent	Paul Tucker	73	2.5	N/A
Majority			627	21.8
Turnout			2,871	37.85
Registered electors			7,604
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Banbury Calthorpe & Easington

Banbury Calthorpe & Easington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynne Parsons	1,217	42.6	−0.1
	Conservative	Fiaz Ahmed	1,055	36.9	−9.8
	Liberal Democrats	David Yeomans	244	8.1	−2.5
	Green	Julia Middleton	213	7.4	N/A
	Independent	John Brown	131	4.6	N/A
Majority			162	5.7
Turnout			2,860	32.93
Registered electors			8,731
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	4.85

Banbury Cross & Neithrop

Banbury Cross & Neithrop

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Becky Clarke	1,058	54.6	+3.8
	Conservative	Munoz Dungo	443	22.8	−12.6
	Green	Linda Catherine Ward	159	8.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Raisbeck	141	7.2	−6.6
	Independent	Simon Garrett	80	4.1	N/A
	Independent	Tim Barrett	58	3.0	N/A
Majority			615	31.7
Turnout			1,939	26.18	−3.3
Registered electors			7,461
	Labour hold		Swing

Banbury Grimsbury & Hightown

Banbury Grimsbury & Hightown

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Sean Woodcock*	1,030	55.6	−0.9
	Conservative	Zeeshan Ahmed	389	21.0	−6.1
	Green	Karl Kwiatkowski	175	9.5	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Sophie Parker-Manuel	143	7.7	−0.1
	Independent	Cassi Perry	114	6.2	N/A
Majority			641	34.6
Turnout			1,851	26.27
Registered electors			7,110
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Banbury Hardwick

Banbury Hardwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Besmira Brasha	809	46.1	+2.9
	Conservative	Tony Ilott	716	40.2	+1.4
	Green	Amanda Maguire	231	13.2	+3.3
Majority			93	5.9	+1.5
Turnout			1,756	23.2	−2
Registered electors			7,612
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	0.75

Banbury Ruscote

Banbury Ruscote

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Isabel Creed	884	58.5	+2.8
	Conservative	Jayne Strangwood	388	25.7	−8.2
	Green	Carol Broom	95	6.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Petterson	74	4.9	−5.5
	Independent	Julie Battison	70	4.6	N/A
Majority			496	32.8
Turnout			1,511	21.29
Registered electors			7,124
	Labour hold		Swing

Bicester East

Bicester East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Tom Beckett	843	41.6	+14.0
	Conservative	Sam Holland	767	37.9	−10.1
	Labour	Jane Clements	416	20.5	−4.0
Majority			76	3.8
Turnout			2,026	32.08
Registered electors			6,377
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing

Bicester North & Caversfield

Bicester North & Caversfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Lytton	794	39.6	+19.8
	Conservative	Jason Slaymaker*	676	33.7	−7.2
	Labour	Arjun Bais	536	26.7	−1.3
Majority			118	5.9
Turnout			2,006	31.13
Registered electors			6,502
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Bicester South & Ambrosden

Bicester South & Ambrosden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Cotter*	1,660	56.8	+1.4
	Conservative	Sammy Omotayo	808	27.7	−3.7
	Labour	Robert Nixon	453	15.5	+3.2
Majority			852	29.1
Turnout			2,921	29.57
Registered electors			9,948
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing

Bicester West

Bicester West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry Knight	777	40.0	−12.3
	Conservative	Alex Thrupp	472	24.3	−5.1
	Labour	Christopher Howells	397	20.4	+2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Chadwick	188	9.7	N/A
	Green	Damien Maguire	110	5.7	N/A
Majority			305	15.7
Turnout			1,944	29.93
Registered electors			6,559
	Independent hold		Swing

Cropredy, Sibfords & Wroxton

Cropredy, Sibfords & Wroxton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Douglas Webb*	1,247	44.9	−4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Xenia Huntley	856	30.8	+5.6
	Labour	Siân Tohill-Martin	439	15.8	−9.2
	Green	Victoria Campbell	238	8.6	N/A
Majority			391	14.1
Turnout			2,780	40.19
Registered electors			6,967
	Conservative hold		Swing

Deddington

Deddington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew McHugh	1,280	43.8	−2.1
	Labour	Annette Murphy	796	27.2	+4.8
	Liberal Democrats	James Hartley	547	18.7	−2.0
	Green	Linda Newbery	300	10.3	−0.7
Majority			484	16.6
Turnout			2,923	39.65
Registered electors			7,430
	Conservative hold		Swing

Fringford & Heyfords

Fringford & Heyfords

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Simpson	1,049	42.2	−0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Chivers	774	31.1	+10.8
	Labour	Alex Williams	373	15.0	−3.9
	Green	Jenny Tamblyn	291	11.7	−6.6
Majority			275	11.1
Turnout			2,487	34.77
Registered electors			7,179
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kidlington East

Kidlington East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Ian Middleton*	1,505	57.0	+10.2
	Conservative	Tony Puffer	678	25.7	−12.2
	Labour Co-op	Barry Richards	276	10.4	−4.9
	Independent	Philip Brown	183	6.9	N/A
Majority			827	31.3
Turnout			2,642	37.86
Registered electors			7,036
	Green hold		Swing

Kidlington West

Kidlington West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley McLean	1,410	56.2	+3.8
	Conservative	Rosie Hillard	802	32.0	−4.0
	Labour	Matthew Bevington	297	11.8	+0.2
Majority			608	24.2
Turnout			2,509	36.25
Registered electors			6,983
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Launton & Otmoor

Launton & Otmoor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Julian Nedelcu	1,120	45.0	−4.5
	Conservative	David Hughes	1,052	42.3	+1.5
	Labour	Naomi Karslake	315	12.7	+4.1
Majority			68	2.7
Turnout			2,477	38.7
Registered electors			6,490
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

References

1. "Notice of Election". Cherwell District Council. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
2. "Local elections 2023: Conservatives lose only council in Oxfordshire". BBC News. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
3. "Conservatives to lead Cherwell District Council after impasse broken". BBC News. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
4. Middleton, Ian (2023-05-24). "How Labour allowed the Tories to retain control of a council in Oxfordshire". Bright Green. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
5. "Cherwell election result". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
6. "Statement of Persons Nominated". Cherwell District Council. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
7. Ingham, Jack (5 May 2023). "Banbury election live: Conservatives lose overall majority on Cherwell District Council". Banbury Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2023.