2023 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election

The 2023 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council in Hertfordshire, England.[1] This would be on the same day as other local elections across England.

2023 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election

← 2022 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2024 →

16 out of 48 seats to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
25 seats needed for a majority
Turnout26,836, 32.8%
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Tony Kingsbury Paul Zukowskyj Lynn Chesterman
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Labour
Last election 26 seats, 37.1% 12 seats, 29.6% 10 seats, 29.8%
Seats before 26 12 10
Seats after 22 14 12
Seat change Decrease 4 Increase 2 Increase 2
Popular vote 9017 6908 8239
Percentage 33.8% 25.9% 30.9%
Swing Decrease 3.3 pp Decrease 3.7 pp Increase 1.1 pp

Winner of each seat at the 2023 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election

Leader before election

Tony Kingsbury
Conservative

Leader after election

Paul Zukowskyj
Liberal Democrat
No overall control

Prior to the election the Conservatives held a narrow majority of the seats on the council. Out of the sixteen seats up for election, five seats changed party hands, leading to the Conservative Party losing their majority and the council going under no overall control.[2] [3] Whilst the Conservatives remained the largest party after the election, a Liberal Democrat and Labour party coalition subsequently took control of the council.[4]

Summary

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Election result

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Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council's composition following the 2023 elections.
2023 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election
Party This election Full council This election
Seats Net Seats % Other Total Total % Votes Votes % +/−
  Conservative 4   4 25.0 18 22 45.8 9017 33.8[5]   3.3
  Liberal Democrats 6   2 37.5 8 14 29.2 6908 25.9   3.7
  Labour 6   2 37.5 6 12 25.0 8239 30.9   1.1
  Green 0   0.0 0.0 0 0.0 2365 8.9   6.3
  Reform UK 0   0.0 0.0 0 0.0 162 0.6[a] N/A

Results

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The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.[6]

Brookmans Park and Little Heath

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Brookmans Park and Little Heath
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jonathan Boulton* 1,044 61.6 −3.4
Labour Graham Beevers 308 18.2 −0.9
Liberal Democrats Peter Basford 204 12.0 −3.9
Green William Berrington 128 7.6 n/a
Rejected ballots 10 0.6 n/a
Majority 736 43.4 −2.5
Turnout 1694 33.9 −5
Conservative hold Swing  1.3

Haldens

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Haldens
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Astrid Scott 856 50.6 +0.2
Conservative Neil Bradbury 521 30.8 −4.5
Liberal Democrats Jason Payne 175 10.3 −4.0
Green Lesley Smith 131 7.7 n/a
Rejected ballots 8 0.5 n/a
Majority 335 19.8 +4.7
Turnout 1691 34.5 −1.4
Labour gain from Conservative Swing   2.4

Handside

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Handside
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Michal Siewniak 1,403 55.7 +0.5'"`UNIQ−−ref−00000016−QINU`"'
Conservative Brian Seeger 695 27.6 +0.5'"`UNIQ−−ref−00000017−QINU`"'
Labour Mbizo Mpofu 253 10.0 −1.1'"`UNIQ−−ref−00000018−QINU`"'
Green Philip Hopley 154 6.1 −3.8
Rejected ballots 16 0.6 n/a
Majority 708 28.1 n/a
Turnout 2521 46.4 −4.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing   0

Hatfield Central

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Hatfield Central
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Kieran Thorpe 713 57.2 +4.4
Conservative Patrick Short 276 22.2 −11.2
Liberal Democrats Adam Edwards 148 11.9 −1.9
Green Rody Ribeiro 102 8.2 n/a
Rejected ballots 7 0.6 n/a
Majority 437 35.0 +15.6
Turnout 1246 23.1 −3.1
Labour hold Swing   7.8

Hatfield East

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Hatfield East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Cathy Watson 712 39.6 −4.5
Conservative Caron Juggins* 592 32.9 −5.5
Liberal Democrats Muhammed Joglu 388 21.6 +11.2
Green Ian Gregory 99 5.5 −1.6
Rejected ballots 9 0.5 n/a
Majority 120 6.7 −12.7
Turnout 1800 32.9 0.0
Labour gain from Conservative Swing   0.5

Hatfield South West

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Hatfield South West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Helena Goldwater 659 43.5 −1.9
Labour Vaishali Shah 559 36.9 +5.3
Conservative David Perkins 216 14.3 −5.5
Green Antony Henn 75 5.0 n/a
Rejected ballots 5 0.3 n/a
Majority 100 6.6 −7.2
Turnout 1514 27.1 −1.6
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing   3.6

Hatfield Villages

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Hatfield Villages
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rose Grewal 707 43.9 −2.3
Conservative Phil Kurland 476 29.5 −10.7
Liberal Democrats Brad Taylor 289 17.9 +5.0
Green Andreas Kukol 86 5.3 n/a
Reform UK Pete Whitehead 48 3 n/a
Rejected ballots 5 0.3 n/a
Majority 231 14.4 +9.1
Turnout 1611 28.2 −1.3
Labour gain from Conservative Swing   4.2

Hollybush

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Hollybush
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Margaret Birleson* 723 57.7 −0.1
Conservative Abbie Cook 306 24.4 −7.1
Liberal Democrats Paul Wilson 113 9.0 −1.7
Green Joseph Bristow 98 7.8 n/a
Rejected ballots 12 1.0 n/a
Majority 417 33.3 +7.0
Turnout 1252 25.5 −5.8
Labour hold Swing   3.5

Howlands

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Howlands
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jill Weston* 861 54.4 −4.1
Conservative Ahmad Chattha 502 31.7 −2.8
Liberal Democrats Hillary Skoczylas 103 6.5 −0.5
Green Penelope Berrington 102 6.4 n/a
Rejected ballots 14 0.9 n/a
Majority 359 22.7 −1.3
Turnout 1582 30 −4.9
Labour hold Swing   0.7

Northaw and Cuffley

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Northaw and Cuffley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Michaelides* 1,095 66.3 −1.5
Labour Sheila Barrett 255 15.4 −2.2
Liberal Democrats Anthony Green 151 9.1 −5.5
Green Brian Edwards 139 8.4 n/a
Rejected ballots 11 0.7 n/a
Majority 840 50.9 +0.7
Turnout 1651 35.2 +1.3
Conservative hold Swing   0.4

Panshanger

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Panshanger
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jane Quinton* 728 47.0 +7.7
Conservative Liz McAuliffe 441 28.5 −5.6
Labour Perry Hewitt 304 19.6 −7.0
Green Cheryl Miles 68 4.4 n/a
Rejected ballots 8 0.5 n/a
Majority 287 18.5 +13.3
Turnout 1549 35.2 +0.9
Liberal Democrats hold Swing   7.4

Peartree

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Peartree
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Simon Goldwater 582 44.2 −7.6
Labour Tom Green 466 35.4 +2.0
Conservative Jeet Dhelaria 167 12.7 +1.1
Green Claudia Ferlisi 91 6.9 n/a
Rejected ballots 10 0.8 n/a
Majority 116 8.8 −9.6
Turnout 1316 24.3 −3.7
Liberal Democrats hold Swing   4.8

Sherrards

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Sherrards
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Frank Marsh* 1,020 52.9 −1.5
Labour Leo Gilbert 416 21.6 +7.3
Conservative Siva Kumar 337 17.5 −6.8
Green David Cox 83 4.3 −0.6
Reform UK Jack Aaron 69 3.6 n/a
Rejected ballots 3 0.2 n/a
Majority 604 31.3 +1.2
Turnout 1928 44.2 −2.5
Liberal Democrats hold Swing   4.4

Welham Green and Hatfield South

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Welham Green and Hatfield South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Adrienne Nix 613 37.9 −7.7
Conservative Teresa Travell 566 35.0 +1.8
Labour Linda Mendez 335 20.7 +3.2
Green Ian Nendick 50 3.1 n/a
Reform UK Shane Scott 45 2.8 n/a
Rejected ballots 9 0.6 n/a
Majority 47 2.9 −9.5
Turnout 1618 31.2 −0.8
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing   4.8

Welwyn East

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Welwyn East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Roger Trigg* 849 45.6 −6.7
Labour Alan Chesterman 571 30.6 +1.7
Green Mary Barton 235 12.6 n/a
Liberal Democrats Pashang Fatemi 204 10.9 −8.2
Rejected ballots 12 0.6 n/a
Majority 278 15.0 −8.3
Turnout 1871 35.7 −7.2
Conservative hold Swing   4.2

Welwyn West

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Welwyn West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tony Kingsbury* 934 46.9 −7.5
Green Sarah Butcher 724 36.3 +20.2
Labour Daniel Carlen 200 10.0 −5.3
Liberal Democrats Simon Archer 128 6.4 −7.7
Rejected ballots 6 0.6 n/a
Majority 210 10.6 −27.6
Turnout 1992 41.3 +2.2
Conservative hold Swing   13.9

Footnotes

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  1. ^ The missing 0.5% of total percentage consists of 145 rejected votes across the wards.
  2. ^ a b c In 2022 Handside had two seats up for election, so these parties' two candidate's average performance is used in calculating the change.

References

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  1. ^ "Notice of Election". Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Local elections 2023: Tories lose Dacorum, Hertsmere, East Herts and Welwyn Hatfield". BBC News. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  3. ^ "RECAP: Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council election results 2023 on historic day". Welwyn Hatfield Times. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  4. ^ Mountney, Dan (19 May 2023). "Labour and Lib Dem joint administration to lead Welwyn Hatfield". Welwyn Hatfield Times. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Local Election Results 2023 - Welwyn Hatfield". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Election Day - Thursday 4 May 2023". Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. Retrieved 11 April 2023.