2023 Maidstone Borough Council election

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

2023 Maidstone Borough Council election

← 2022 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2024 →
18 out of 55 seats to Maidstone Borough Council 28 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader David Burton Clive English Steve Munford Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Independent Last election 27 seats, 38.6% 12 seats, 25.3% 10 seats, 6.0% Seats before 28 12 9 Seats after 24 12 10   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Maureen Cleator Party Labour Green Last election 5 seats, 15.4% 1 seat, 14.3% Seats before 5 1 Seats after 6 3
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Maidstone Borough Council election
Leader before election David Burton Conservative No overall control Leader after election David Burton Conservative No overall control

Two weeks before the election, the council went into no overall control when the Conservatives lost their majority due to the resignation of Robert Eves, leaving them with 27 out of the 54 occupied seats.^[2]

The council stayed under no overall control following the election, with the Conservatives forming the largest group.^[3] They continued to hold the council's leadership positions as a minority administration.^[4]

Summary

Election result

2023 Maidstone Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	5	4	83.3	19	24	43.6	9,708	32.7	–5.9
	Liberal Democrats	5	1	27.8	7	12	21.8	6,786	22.9	–2.4
	Independent	4	2	22.2	6	10	18.2	3,350	11.3	+5.3
	Labour	2	1	11.1	4	6	10.9	4,631	15.6	+0.2
	Green	2	2	11.1	1	3	5.5	4,995	16.8	+2.5
	Reform UK	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	129	0.4	N/A
	Heritage	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	77	0.3	N/A

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Maidstone Borough Council following the close of nominations on 4 April 2023.^[5] The results for each ward were as follows:^[6]

Allington

Allington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Cynthia Robertson*	923	39.4	−18.6
	Conservative	Laura Kennedy	639	27.3	+2.5
	Green	Rachel Rodwell	569	24.3	+15.0
	Labour	Marianna Poliszczuk	213	9.1	+1.3
Majority
Turnout			2,344
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Bearsted

Bearsted

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Val Springett*	1,204	58.0	−8.7
	Green	Ciaran Oliver	294	14.2	−1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Chittenden	283	13.6	−3.5
	Labour	Mark Tickner	219	10.5	N/A
	Heritage	Sean Turner	77	3.7	N/A
Majority
Turnout			2,077
	Conservative hold		Swing

Boxley

Boxley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Vanessa Jones	1,012	44.1	N/A
	Conservative	Anne Brindle*	784	34.2	−24.8
	Labour	Stella Randall	263	11.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Samme	236	10.3	−13.9
Majority
Turnout			2,295
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Coxheath & Hunton

Coxheath & Hunton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Reid	788	39.7	+4.2
	Green	Claire Kehily	697	35.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Bryan Vizzard	275	13.8	−44.4
	Labour	John Randall	226	11.4	+5.1
Majority
Turnout			1,986
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Detling & Thurnham

Detling & Thurnham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Stephen Thompson	485	49.7	+24.3
	Conservative	Christopher Waters	411	42.1	−15.9
	Liberal Democrats	Zeina Toric-Azad	80	8.2	−8.4
Majority
Turnout			976
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing

Downswood & Otham

Downswood & Otham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Gordon Newman*	510	62.8	+4.2
	Labour	Theresa Lyons	118	14.5	N/A
	Conservative	Scott Walker	115	14.2	−10.4
	Green	David Murray	69	8.5	+0.4
Majority
Turnout			812
	Independent hold		Swing

East

East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Naghi*	1,051	52.9	+5.5
	Conservative	Ronald Burke	497	25.0	−3.6
	Labour	Derek Swan	273	13.8	+0.9
	Green	Matthew White	164	8.3	−2.9
Majority
Turnout			1,985
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Fant

Fant

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Margaret Rose*	760	43.5	+8.4
	Green	Ian McDonald	383	21.9	+7.6
	Conservative	Jaison Musindo	354	20.2	−8.3
	Liberal Democrats	Rojo Kurien	252	14.4	−1.1
Majority
Turnout			1,749
	Labour hold		Swing

Harrietsham & Lenham

Harrietsham & Lenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tom Sams*	1,296	72.6	+15.1
	Conservative	Andrew Bye	325	18.2	−14.9
	Labour	Ryan Slaughter	164	9.2	+5.3
Majority
Turnout			1,785
	Independent hold		Swing

High Street

High Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Dinesh Khadka*	641	37.2	−10.7
	Labour	David Collier	401	23.2	+3.7
	Conservative	Reiss Cordrey	352	20.4	+0.1
	Green	Steven Cheeseman	331	19.2	+6.9
Majority
Turnout			1,725
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Leeds

Leeds

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gill Fort*	389	61.2	−7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Field	138	21.7	N/A
	Green	Caroline Jessel	109	17.1	N/A
Majority
Turnout			636
	Conservative hold		Swing

Loose

Loose

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Susan Grigg*	236	34.9	−19.8
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Wales	179	26.5	−28.2
	Conservative	Kenneth Amakye	165	24.4	−6.2
	Labour	Alan Le Grys	60	8.9	+5.4
	Green	Donna Greenan	36	5.3	−5.9
Majority
Turnout			676
	Independent gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Marden & Yalding

Marden & Yalding

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Annabelle Blackmore*	1,005	43.4	−3.5
	Green	Mick Summersgill	891	38.5	+16.3
	Labour	Sarah Barwick	265	11.4	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Passmore	154	6.7	N/A
Majority
Turnout			2,315
	Conservative hold		Swing

North

North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Thompson	930	51.2	N/A
	Conservative	Scott Hahnefeld	397	21.8	−10.7
	Labour	Rachel Slaughter	292	16.1	−11.3
	Green	Kimberley Milham	199	10.9	−13.9
Majority
Turnout			1,818
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Shepway North

Shepway North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joanna Wilkinson	602	37.1	+20.4
	Conservative	Alison Colyer	577	35.6	−3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Higson	184	11.3	−4.0
	Green	Stephen Muggeridge	146	9.0	+2.1
	Independent	Gary Butler	114	7.0	+4.4
Majority
Turnout			1,623
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

South

South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Clark*	1,153	53.4	−5.3
	Conservative	Emily Hudson	408	18.9	−5.8
	Labour	Dennis Luchmun	197	9.1	+2.3
	Independent	Paul Thomas	182	8.4	N/A
	Reform UK	Graham Jarvis	129	6.0	N/A
	Green	Simon Milham	92	4.3	−1.3
Majority
Turnout			2,161
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Staplehurst

Staplehurst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paddy Riordan	942	50.3	−4.8
	Labour	Rory Silkin	578	30.9	+20.0
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Burnham	219	11.7	−0.5
	Green	Kelly Rigden	132	7.1	−4.3
Majority
Turnout			1,871
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sutton Valence & Langley

Sutton Valence & Langley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Derek Eagle	398	47.3	+31.3
	Conservative	Wendy Young*	356	42.3	−26.3
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Richards	88	10.5	−4.9
Majority
Turnout			842
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing

References

1. "Notice of Election". Maidstone Borough Council. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
2. Smith, Alan (5 May 2023). "Kent local elections 2023: Maidstone council left with no overall control". Kent Online. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
3. "Local Elections 2023: Results in Sussex, Kent and Essex". ITV News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
4. Smith, Alan (20 May 2023). "No challenge as Conservatives continue to run Maidstone council". Kent Online. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
5. "Borough Elections Statements of Persons Nominated". Maidstone Borough Council. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
6. "Borough - Borough and Parish - Thursday 4th May, 2023". Maidstone Borough Council. Retrieved 27 September 2023.