2023 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council election

The 2023 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in Kent, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

2023 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council election

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
16 out of 48 seats to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ben Chapelard Tom Dawlings David Hayward Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Alliance Last election 17 seats, 22.4% 15 seats, 32.1% 9 seats, 21.5% Seats before 15 13 9 Seats won 5 2 5 Seats after 17 11 11 Seat change 2 Popular vote 6,733 7,808 4,804 Percentage 25.3 29.4 18.1 Swing 2.9 2.7 3.4   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Hugo Pound Party Labour Independent Last election 7 seats, 19.6% N/A Seats before 7 4 Seats won 3 1 Seats after 8 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 4,330 640 Percentage 16.3 2.4 Swing 3.3 N/A
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council election
Leader before election Ben Chapelard Liberal Democrat No overall control Leader after election Ben Chapelard Liberal Democrat No overall control

The council remained under no overall control, being led by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, local party the Tunbridge Wells Alliance, Labour and an independent councillor, led by Ben Chapelard of the Liberal Democrats. The council remained under no overall control after the election and continued to be run by the same coalition.

Summary

Election result

2023 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	5		31.0	12	17	35.4	6,733	25.3	+2.9
	Conservative	2	2	12.5	9	11	22.9	7,808	29.4	–2.7
	Alliance	5	1	31.0	6	11	18.8	4,804	18.1	–3.4
	Labour	3	1	18.8	5	8	16.7	4,330	16.3	–3.3
	Independent	1		6.3	2	3	6.3	640	2.4	N/A
	Green	0		0	0	0	0	2,177	8.2	+4.2
	Reform UK	0		0	0	0	0	83	0.3	N/A'

Candidates

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023. The results were as follows:

Benenden and Cranbrook

Benenden and Cranbrook

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Nancy Warne*	723	42.9	4.9
	Conservative	John Austen	619	36.7	6.4
	Labour	Lorna Blackmore	120	7.1	2.7
	Green	Rachael Mason	116	6.9	2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Gill	109	6.5	N/A
Majority			104	6.2	1.1
Turnout			1,687	32.3	1.5
Registered electors			5,221
	Alliance hold		Swing	5.7

Culverden

Culverden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Osborne	1,104	51.5	3.1
	Conservative	Chris Woodward	580	27.1	3.3
	Green	Michael Calvert	249	11.6	N/A
	Labour	Adrian Farnham	210	9.8	1.7
Majority			524	24.4	0.2
Turnout			2,143	34.7	4.3
Registered electors			6,173
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	3.2

Frittenden and Sissinghurst

Frittenden and Sissinghurst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andy Fairweather*	429	67.0	20.8
	Green	John Hurst	82	12.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Funnell	75	11.7	1.0
	Alliance	Janis Smith	54	8.4	34.3
Majority			347	54.2	50.7
Turnout			640	35.5	9.1
Registered electors			1,805
	Conservative hold		Swing	27.6

Goudhurst and Lamberhurst

Goudhurst and Lamberhurst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Alison Webster	520	41.6	1.6
	Conservative	Beckie Winter	291	23.3	14.9
	Green	Geoff Mason	272	21.7	14.3
	Liberal Democrats	John Rappoport	96	7.7	1.6
	Labour	Anne Musker	72	5.8	2.5
Majority			229	18.3
Turnout			1,251	35.4
Registered electors			3,533
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing

Hawkhurst and Sandhurst

Hawkhurst and Sandhurst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Godfrey Bland*	800	48.1	6.7
	Alliance	Heidi Eccles	291	17.5	30.6
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Appelbe	230	13.8	N/A
	Labour	Ana Draper	159	9.6	0.9
	Green	Debs Keech	100	6.0	N/A
	Reform UK	Simon Hilton	83	5.0	N/A
Majority			509	30.6
Turnout			1,663	33.6
Registered electors			4,954
	Conservative hold		Swing

Paddock Wood East

Paddock Wood East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Rodney Atkins*	391	35.9	N/A
	Conservative	Nicolas Maari	309	28.4	4.1
	Independent	Matthew Bailey*	178	16.4	N/A
	Labour	Andrew Muir	108	9.9	4.6
	Green	Penny Peerless	58	5.3	0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Guinnessy	44	4.0	N/A
Majority			82	7.5
Turnout			1,088	32.4
Registered electors			3,360
	Independent hold		Swing

Paddock Wood West

Paddock Wood West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Munday	438	40.4	35.8
	Conservative	Tom Mobbs	354	32.7	5.3
	Green	Trevor Bisdee	221	20.4	8.3
	Independent	Linda Store	71	6.5	N/A
Majority			84	7.7
Turnout			1,084	35.2
Registered electors			3,077
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Pantiles and St Mark's

Pantiles and St Mark's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Pamela Wilkinson	1,250	54.0	4.4
	Conservative	David Scott	758	32.8	2.7
	Labour	Alan Bullionn	158	6.8	1.3
	Green	Jack Mason	147	6.4	0.8
Majority			492	21.2
Turnout			2,313	43.4
Registered electors			5,327
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Park

Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Siobhan O'Connell	868	38.7	1.7
	Conservative	Christian Atwood*	616	27.5	5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jules Luxford	332	14.8	3.1
	Labour	Sue Pound	264	11.8	0.8
	Green	Alasdair Fraser	162	7.2	N/A
Majority			252	11.2
Turnout			2,242	38.1
Registered electors			5,890
	Alliance hold		Swing

Pembury

Pembury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	David Hayward*	922	51.3	8.5
	Conservative	Vivek Gautam	529	29.4	16.7
	Liberal Democrats	Eugenie Ballara	122	6.8	N/A
	Labour	Joel Turner	115	6.4	4.7
	Green	Evelien Hurst-Buist	109	6.1	N/A
Majority			393	21.9
Turnout			1,797	41.0
Registered electors			4,388
	Alliance hold		Swing

Rusthall

Rusthall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jayne Sharratt	627	41.5	5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Funnell*	533	35.3	8.1
	Conservative	James Allen	266	17.6	10.8
	Green	Aimee Taylor	86	5.7	3.1
Majority			94	6.2
Turnout			1,512	42.3
Registered electors			3,572
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Sherwood

Sherwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugo Pound*	643	37.3	16.1
	Conservative	Nasir Jamil	545	31.6	15.0
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Elliott	235	13.6	N/A
	Alliance	Joseph Dore	210	12.2	N/A
	Green	Lee MacKinnon	89	5.2	N/A
Majority			98	5.7
Turnout			1,722	29.9
Registered electors			5,756
	Labour hold		Swing

Southborough and High Brooms

Southborough and High Brooms

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Francis	933	53.8	6.5
	Conservative	Misha Mitchem	305	17.6	7.9
	Alliance	Paul Johnson	169	9.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Yvonne Raptis	165	9.5	4.7
	Green	David Holton	162	9.3	N/A
Majority			628	36.2
Turnout			1,734	31.6
Registered electors			5,488
	Labour hold		Swing

Southborough North

Southborough North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Opara	619	41.9	1.9
	Conservative	Sarah Bridges	478	32.4	9.6
	Alliance	Jonathan Farina	163	11.0	N/A
	Labour	Martin Betts	143	9.7	4.4
	Green	Sue Lovell	73	4.9	N/A
Majority			141	9.5
Turnout			1,476	44.3
Registered electors			3,333
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Speldhurst and Bidborough

Speldhurst and Bidborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Paul Curry	884	42.1	22.5
	Conservative	Aaron Brand	608	29.0	0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Leach	363	17.3	N/A
	Green	Steph Gandon	136	6.5	N/A
	Labour	Paul Froome	108	5.1	2.0
Majority			276	13.1
Turnout			2,099	45.8
Registered electors			4,578
	Alliance hold		Swing

St John's

St John's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Marguerita Morton*	1,018	47.9	6.6
	Labour	Dariel Francis	670	31.5	9.6
	Conservative	Alexander Puffette	321	15.1	2.4
	Green	Adrian Thorne	115	5.4	N/A
Majority			348	16.4
Turnout			2,124	40.8
Registered electors			5,202
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Changes 2023–2024

Labour councillor Raymond Moon was suspended from the party in July 2023. David Hayward, elected for the Tunbridge Wells Alliance, left the party (of which he had been the leader) in August 2023 to form a new independent group.