2023 Chelmsford City Council election

2023 Chelmsford City Council election
All 57 seats to Chelmsford City Council; 29 seats needed for a majority
	Winner of each seat at the 2023 Chelmsford City Council election
Leader before election; Stephen Robinson; Liberal Democrats	Leader after election ; Stephen Robinson; Liberal Democrats

The 2023 Chelmsford City Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Chelmsford City Council in Essex, England.^[3] This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

The Liberal Democrats retained their majority on the council.

Overview

The Liberal Democrats went into the election holding a majority of the council's seats, having taken control from the Conservatives at the previous election in 2019. At the 2023 election the Liberal Democrats increased their majority, making a net gain of two extra seats at the expense of local party the South Woodham Ferrers Council Taxpayers Association, which lost both of the seats it had held on the council.^[4]^[5]

A new record was set for the youngest person ever to serve on the council with the election of 22-year-old Liberal Democrat candidate Kieron Franks in the Great Baddow East ward.^[6]

Election result

The overall results were:^[7]^[8]^[9]

2023 Chelmsford City Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	57	33	3	1	2	57.9	41.7	39,567	+1.9
	Conservative	51	21	1	1		36.8	39.8	37,771	–0.7
	Independent	9	3	0	0		5.3	4.3	4,111	0.0
	Labour	37	0	0	0		0.0	9.2	8,737	+2.5
	Green	10	0	0	0		0.0	2.6	2,445	–2.5
	South Woodham Ferrers Council Taxpayers Association	4	0	0	2	2	0.0	2.1	2,003	–0.3
	UKIP	1	0	0	0		0.0
	Heritage	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	193	N/A
	TUSC	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	85	N/A

Independent Network candidates are included with the independents in the summary above, but candidates who stood under that banner are recorded as such in the detailed ward results below.

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Chelmsford City Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.^[10] The ward results were as follows, with sitting councillors standing in their previous wards marked with asterisks(*) and sitting councillors standing in different wards marked with double daggers(‡):^[11]^[12]

Bicknacre and East and West Hanningfield

Bicknacre and East and West Hanningfield (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sue Dobson*	777	67.9	±0.0
	Conservative	Mark Taylor	740	64.7	–10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Wilson	279	24.4	–6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Robin Stevens	258	22.5	–3.7
	Labour	Maria Blakemore	235	20.5	N/A
Turnout				31.1	–2.3
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Boreham and the Leighs

Boreham and the Leighs (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Raven*	697	61.5	–0.4
	Conservative	Victoria Canning	669	59.0	–15.9
	Liberal Democrats	Terence Beckett	366	32.3	+7.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jyothi Kurra	317	28.0	+7.9
	Labour	John Devane	219	19.3	+1.0
Turnout				26.0	–2.6
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Broomfield and the Walthams

Broomfield and the Walthams (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mike Steel*	1,148	47.0	+8.4
	Conservative	Philip Wilson	889	36.4	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Nicola Bugbee	870	35.6	+18.1
	Liberal Democrats	Darren Johnson	850	34.8	+17.7
	Conservative	Colin Todd	841	34.4	–0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Tayo Udoh	716	29.3	N/A
	Independent	Wendy Daden*	691	28.3	–31.8
	Labour	Kuldeep Golla	357	14.6	–5.4
	Labour	Peter Dixon	342	14.0	N/A
	Green	Mike Thompson	333	13.6	–16.4
	Labour	David Howell	295	12.1	N/A
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Independent
	Conservative hold
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Chelmer Village and Beaulieu Park

Chelmer Village and Beaulieu Park (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Rose Moore*	1,177	49.1	–2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Hall	1,092	45.6	+1.6
	Conservative	Susan Sullivan	1,083	45.2	±0.0
	Conservative	Sunil Gupta	1,026	42.8	+1.2
	Conservative	Geoff Walker	1,025	42.8	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Jeffreys	1,025	42.8	+0.6
	Labour	Louis Dearmer	304	12.7	+2.2
	Labour	David Sweeney	262	10.9	+0.5
	Heritage	Eloise Schultz	193	8.1	N/A
Turnout				33.1	+2.2
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Conservative hold

Chelmsford Rural West

Chelmsford Rural West (1 seat)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicolette Chambers*	573	69.3	–6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Olly Fenwick	135	16.3	–7.7
	Labour	Steve Maclean	119	14.4	+14.4
Turnout			827	34.4	+1.4
	Conservative hold

Galleywood

Galleywood (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Janette Potter*	740	57.9	+1.3
	Ind. Network	Richard Hyland*	552	43.2	–3.2
	Conservative	Alan Chambers	530	41.5	–2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Gale	213	16.7	–5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Kenneth Hay	180	14.1	–3.4
	Labour	Robert Croft	179	14.0	+1.1
	Labour	Alan Haines	162	12.7	N/A
Turnout				33.6	+1.5
	Conservative hold
	Ind. Network hold

Goat Hall

Goat Hall (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Mascot*	845	56.0	–9.8
	Liberal Democrats	Hazel Clark	790	52.4	–4.5
	Conservative	Christine Garrett	529	35.1	+0.7
	Conservative	Yvonne Spence	480	31.8	–1.3
	Labour	Joy Chandler	145	9.6	–0.2
	Green	Jeremy Crook	122	8.1	N/A
	Labour	Thomas Medici	105	7.0	N/A
Turnout				35.3	+1.4
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Great Baddow East

Great Baddow East (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Kieron Franks	871	50.5	–3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Pete Davey	869	50.4	+7.9
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Sosin*	829	48.1	–0.7
	Conservative	Anthony McQuiggan	671	38.9	+12.5
	Conservative	Carol Spingthorpe	617	35.8	+9.6
	Ind. Network	Mary Cordeiro	534	31.0	N/A
	Green	Lynne Wye	327	19.0	N/A
	Labour	Nicola Hesper	275	16.0	+8.1
	UKIP	Nigel Carter	178	10.3	N/A
Turnout				34.0	–5.5
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Great Baddow West

Great Baddow West (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Young*	702	60.4	+10.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jannetta Sosin*	637	54.8	+8.4
	Conservative	Renga Subramanian	512	44.0	+1.2
	Ind. Network	Andy Graham	309	26.6	N/A
	Labour	Jessica Peacock	166	14.3	+4.1
Turnout				31.8	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Little Baddow, Danbury and Sandon

Little Baddow, Danbury and Sandon (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steph Scott	1,499	72.7	+0.1
	Conservative	Jacob Armstrong	1,466	71.1	–1.0
	Conservative	Julia Jeapes	1,432	69.4	+7.0
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Baker	508	24.6	–3.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Whiteing	455	22.1	–0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Annette Longford	421	20.4	+0.4
	Labour	Stephen Capper	205	9.9	N/A
	Labour	Conor Hicks	202	9.8	N/A
Turnout				35.1	+0.7
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Marconi

Marconi (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jude Deakin*	771	60.8	+9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Smita Rajesh*	631	49.8	+5.9
	Conservative	John Scott	283	22.3	–5.4
	Labour	Paul Bishop	273	21.5	–5.7
	Green	Ronnie Bartlett	192	15.1	N/A
	Labour	Jonathan Legg	177	14.0	–9.6
	Ind. Network	Kevin Daines	124	9.8	N/A
	TUSC	Tony O'Donnell	85	6.7	N/A
Turnout				25.4	–1.8
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Moulsham and Central

Moulsham and Central (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Marie Goldman*	1,737	58.8	+8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Charlene Adutwim	1,491	50.5	+5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Pooley*	1,392	47.1	+6.6
	Conservative	Kim Gisby	914	30.9	–6.4
	Conservative	Liz Hall	903	30.6	–5.3
	Conservative	Seena Shah	871	29.5	–2.9
	Green	Sally Kershaw	474	16.0	–2.1
	Labour	Philip Etheridge	385	13.0	–2.7
	Labour	Edward Massey	368	12.5	–2.0
	Labour	Richard Parry	330	11.2	–1.3
Turnout				34.3	–2.5
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Moulsham Lodge

Moulsham Lodge (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Goldman	742	47.9	–16.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ashley Thompson	691	44.7	–13.4
	Conservative	Robert Gisby*	676	43.7	+14.8
	Conservative	Jake Smith	625	40.4	+16.2
	Labour	Tim Wright	188	12.1	+3.3
	Green	Claire Young	173	11.2	–4.8
Turnout				32.3	–6.7
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Both Moulsham Lodge seats had been won by Liberal Democrats in 2019, but Robert Gisby had won one of the seats for the Conservatives in a by-election in May 2021. He stood for re-election but was defeated. Seat recorded as a Liberal Democrat hold to allow for comparison with 2019 election.

Patching Hall

Patching Hall (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Davidson*	1,104	59.1	+7.6
	Liberal Democrats	Lynne Foster	1,076	57.6	+3.1
	Conservative	Vetri Pappa	984	52.6	+16.2
	Conservative	Mike Holoway	926	49.5	+14.2
	Liberal Democrats	Sean Manley	821	43.9	–4.3
	Green	Angela Thompson	361	19.3	+7.0
	Labour	Adam Kenningham–Brown	336	18.0	+8.0
Turnout				35.0	–1.7
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats

Rettendon and Runwell

Rettendon and Runwell (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Paul Clark*	800	55.7	–8.7
	Independent	Steve Davis	729	50.8	*N/A*
	Conservative	Jim Knight	545	38.0	–18.7
	Conservative	Dave Phillips	534	37.2	–18.9
	Labour	Yvonne Waterhouse	142	9.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Jenifer Goldfinch	73	5.1	–17.8
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Pennicard	48	3.3	N/A
Turnout				30.2	–5.4
	Independent hold
	Independent gain from Conservative

South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting

South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Grundy*	1,000	79.9	–1.0
	Conservative	Roy Whitehead*	938	75.0	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Gerhard Petri	221	17.7	–6.8
	Liberal Democrats	Maike Windhorst	205	16.4	–4.6
	Labour	Mark Reilly	139	11.1	N/A
Turnout				31.8	–3.8
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

South Woodham Ferrers – Chetwood and Collingwood

South Woodham Ferrers – Chetwood and Collingwood (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Massey*	708	57.8	+2.7
	Conservative	Malcolm Sismey*	656	53.6	+3.6
	Conservative	Ashley John*	534	43.6	–5.2
	SWFCTA	Jackie Birch	527	43.1	±0.0
	SWFCTA	Scott Wilson	495	40.4	N/A
	Labour	Jonathan Gatenby	218	17.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Powling	205	16.7	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Powling	170	13.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Regnier–Wilson	159	13.0	N/A
Turnout				23.7	±0.0
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

South Woodham Ferrers – Elmwood and Woodville

South Woodham Ferrers – Elmwood and Woodville (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Donna Eley	618	49.9	+28.2
	Liberal Democrats	Terry Sherlock	582	47.0	*N/A*
	Conservative	Murrough O'Brien	527	42.5	+17.2
	SWFCTA	Keith Bentley*	518	41.8	–11.6
	SWFCTA	Ian Roberts*	463	37.4	–14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Dee Davey	435	35.1	N/A
	Conservative	Scott Wilson	396	32.0	+7.8
	Labour	Anthony Weaver	179	14.4	N/A
Turnout				24.9	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats gain from SWFCTA
	Liberal Democrats gain from SWFCTA
	Conservative hold

Springfield North

Springfield North (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Dan Clark‡	943	44.9	–12.5
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Fuller*	925	44.0	–13.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chloe Tron*	897	42.7	–8.7
	Conservative	Paul Hutchinson	893	42.5	+5.5
	Conservative	Emmanuel Aluko	781	37.2	+5.0
	Conservative	John Pioli	767	36.5	+8.6
	Ind. Network	Martin Lovett	245	11.7	N/A
	Labour	Steven Haigh	236	11.2	+0.3
	Labour	Karen Kennedy	222	10.6	N/A
	Labour	Russell Kennedy	210	10.0	N/A
	Green	Reza Hossain	187	8.9	–7.7
Turnout				30.6	–1.6
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

‡Dan Clark was a sitting councillor for Chelmer Village and Beaulieu Park ward before the election.

St. Andrew's

St. Andrew's (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ann Davidson*	1,161	70.9	+11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Robinson*	1,155	70.5	+8.3
	Liberal Democrats	Joanne Hawkins	1,104	67.4	+6.7
	Conservative	Peter Cousins	555	33.9	+7.6
	Conservative	Chloe Ahmed	398	24.3	+0.6
	Labour	Megan Francis	297	18.1	+2.7
	Labour	Mark Thornley	246	15.0	–0.4
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

The Lawns

The Lawns (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Lee*	854	53.0	–3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Natacha Dudley*	821	50.9	–6.6
	Conservative	Joel Alderman	581	36.0	–3.8
	Conservative	Jane Edwards	555	34.4	–3.5
	Labour	Diane McDermott	169	10.5	+2.2
	Ind. Network	Beata Chadwick	127	7.9	N/A
	Green	Luke Wotton	118	7.3	N/A
Turnout				41.5	–1.4
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Trinity

Trinity (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Julia Frascona*	889	59.1	+13.5
	Liberal Democrats	Eleanor Sampson‡	809	53.8	+5.8
	Conservative	Bob Adams	564	37.5	+11.3
	Conservative	David Kimberlin	543	36.1	+12.1
	Labour	Sarah Jones	205	13.6	+6.4
Turnout				36.7	–0.2
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

‡Eleanor Sampson was a sitting councillor for Waterhouse Farm ward before the election.

Waterhouse Farm

Waterhouse Farm (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jennie Lardge*	732	49.5	–16.1
	Liberal Democrats	Nora Walsh‡	641	43.3	–18.2
	Labour	Penny Richards	494	33.4	+15.5
	Labour	Pankaj Sharma	467	31.6	N/A
	Conservative	Brian Jeapes	337	22.8	–5.4
	Conservative	Gilbert Smith	288	19.5	–7.3
Turnout				34.7	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

‡Nora Walsh was a sitting councillor for Great Baddow East ward before the election.

Writtle

Writtle (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Thorpe–Apps*	796	54.5	+0.2
	Conservative	Barry Knight‡	749	51.3	–16.7
	Liberal Democrats	David Loxton	552	37.8	–6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Sanjeev Valdaya	507	34.7	+1.1
	Green	Robert Jordan	158	10.8	N/A
	Labour	Sandra Massey	157	10.8	N/A
Turnout				25.0	–7.6
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

‡Barry Knight was a sitting councillor for Broomfield and the Walthams ward before the election.

Changes 2023–2027

Affiliation changes

Barry Knight (Writtle) and Mark Taylor (Bicknacre & East and West Hanningfield), both elected as Conservatives, left the party in November 2023 to sit as independents.^[13]

References

^ Including one vacancy in Goat Hall ward previously held by Liberal Democrat councillor Tom Willis until his death in February 2023.^[1]
^ Including one vacancy in Boreham and the Leighs ward previously held by Conservative councillor John Galley until his death in October 2022.^[2]

^ Lee, Matt (24 February 2023). "Tributes paid to 'diligent and caring' councillor who served Chelmsford residents for nearly three decades". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ Lee, Matt (12 October 2022). "Mayor of Chelmsford dies suddenly after long career in Essex politics". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ "Notice of Election" (PDF). Chelmsford City Council. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
^ Lee, Matt (6 May 2023). "Tories 'should be worried' Lib Dems say after local election victory in Chelmsford". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ "Local elections 2023: Conservatives lose control of Brentwood Council". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ Lee, Matt (5 May 2023). "New Lib Dem councillor becomes youngest-ever person to serve on Chelmsford City Council". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ "Local elections 2023: full council results for England". The Guardian. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ "Chelmsford election result". BBC News. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ "Local election results in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk". ITV News. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ Meyler, Piers (6 April 2023). "All candidates and where they are standing in Chelmsford's local elections". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ Lee, Matt; Whitehouse, Ellis (5 May 2023). "Essex local elections 2023: Results for councils are announced". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ "Local election results: 2023". Chelmsford City Council. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ Boothroyd, David (24 November 2023). "Never have happened in Sir Robin's Day". Local Councils. Retrieved 11 May 2024.

[2] Including one vacancy in Goat Hall ward previously held by Liberal Democrat councillor Tom Willis until his death in February 2023.^[1]

[4] Including one vacancy in Boreham and the Leighs ward previously held by Conservative councillor John Galley until his death in October 2022.^[2]

[1] Lee, Matt (24 February 2023). "Tributes paid to 'diligent and caring' councillor who served Chelmsford residents for nearly three decades". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[3] Lee, Matt (12 October 2022). "Mayor of Chelmsford dies suddenly after long career in Essex politics". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[5] "Notice of Election" (PDF). Chelmsford City Council. Retrieved 7 April 2023.

[6] Lee, Matt (6 May 2023). "Tories 'should be worried' Lib Dems say after local election victory in Chelmsford". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[7] "Local elections 2023: Conservatives lose control of Brentwood Council". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[8] Lee, Matt (5 May 2023). "New Lib Dem councillor becomes youngest-ever person to serve on Chelmsford City Council". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[9] "Local elections 2023: full council results for England". The Guardian. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[10] "Chelmsford election result". BBC News. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[11] "Local election results in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk". ITV News. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[12] Meyler, Piers (6 April 2023). "All candidates and where they are standing in Chelmsford's local elections". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[13] Lee, Matt; Whitehouse, Ellis (5 May 2023). "Essex local elections 2023: Results for councils are announced". Essex Live. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[14] "Local election results: 2023". Chelmsford City Council. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[15] Boothroyd, David (24 November 2023). "Never have happened in Sir Robin's Day". Local Councils. Retrieved 11 May 2024.

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