2023 Cambridge City Council election

The 2023 Cambridge City Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Cambridge City Council in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections across England. A major issue was a proposed congestion charge.^[2]

2023 Cambridge City Council election

← 2022 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2024 →
16 out of 42 seats to Cambridge City Council 22 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Anna Smith Tim Bick Party Labour Liberal Democrats Last election 29 seats, 44.5% 9 seats, 27.1% Seats before 29 9 Seats won 10 4 Seats after 27 10 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 14,980 8,691 Percentage 38.2% 22.1% Swing 6.3% 5.0%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Naomi Bennett Party Green Independent Last election 3 seats, 17.6% 1 seat, 2.4% Seats before 3 1 Seats won 2 0 Seats after 4 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 7,033 893 Percentage 17.9% 2.3% Swing 0.3% 1.4%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Cambridge City Council election
Leader before election Anna Smith Labour Leader after election Mike Davey Labour

Labour retained its majority on the council, but replaced its leader after the election, with Mike Davey being appointed the new leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 25 May 2023.^[3]

Overall results

The overall results were as follows:^[4]

2023 Cambridge City Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	10	2	62.5	17	27	64.3	14,980	38.2	–6.3
	Liberal Democrats	4	1	25	6	10	23.8	8,691	22.1	–5.0
	Green	2	1	12.5	2	4	9.5	7,033	17.9	+0.3
	Independent	0		0.0	1	1	2.4	893	2.3	+1.4
	Conservative	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	7,552	19.2	+9.3
	Heritage	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	59	0.2	N/A
	UKIP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	33	0.1	N/A

Ward results

The ward results were as follows. Sitting councillors standing for re-election are marked with an asterisk(*):^[5]

Abbey

Abbey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Elliot Tong	1,077	42.7	−5.3
	Labour	Zarina Anwar	804	31.9	−6.2
	Conservative	David Philip Smith	463	18.4	+10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Rosemary Ansell	174	6.9	−0.1
Majority			273	10.8	+0.1
Turnout			2,518
	Green hold		Swing	0.5

Arbury

Arbury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Todd-Jones*	1,175	48.1	−4.6
	Conservative	Robert William Boorman	671	27.5	+13.1
	Green	Stephen Roger Lawrence	333	13.6	−3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Sam Oliver	264	10.8	−8.7
Majority			504	20.6	N/A
Turnout			2,443
	Labour hold		Swing	8.9

Castle

Castle (2 seats due to by-election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Cheney-Anne Payne*	816	39.6	+4.1
	Labour	Antoinette Nestor	716	34.7	–7.1
	Labour	Mary Murphy	651	31.6	–10.2
	Independent	David Summerfield	632	30.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Will Tilbrook	437	21.2	–14.3
	Green	Esme Hennessy	338	16.4	–1.1
	Green	Dan Kittmer	225	10.9	–6.6
	Conservative	Rhona Corinne Boorman	162	7.9	+2.7
	Conservative	Tomasz Dyl	145	7.0	+1.8
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Labour hold

The by-election in Castle ward was triggered by the resignation of Labour councillor Sarah Baigent in March 2023.

Cherry Hinton

Cherry Hinton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Paul Dryden*	1,119	43.0	–15.3
	Conservative	Zachary Marsh	1,056	40.6	+23.7
	Green	Richard Michael Potter	235	9.0	–3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Archie McCann	193	7.4	–4.9
Majority			63	2.4	–39.0
Turnout			2,603
	Labour hold		Swing	19.5

Coleridge

Coleridge (2 seats due to by-election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rosy Moore*	1,085	45.9	–10.4
	Labour	Tim Griffin	895	37.9	–18.4
	Green	Sarah Louise Nicmanis	661	28.0	+10.8
	Conservative	Eric William Barrett-Payton	627	26.5	+12.5
	Conservative	Robin Nelson	611	25.8	+11.8
	Green	Peter Price	397	16.8	–0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Judy Margaret Brunton	259	11.0	+1.2
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Brunton	194	8.2	–1.6
Turnout
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

The by-election in Coleridge ward was triggered by the resignation of Labour councillor Lewis Herbert in March 2023.^[6]

East Chesterton

East Chesterton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alice Flora Gilderdale*	1,014	38.4	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Illingworth	887	33.6	–3.5
	Conservative	Frank Ribeiro	341	12.9	+3.4
	Green	Elizabeth Alice May	305	11.6	–3.6
	Heritage	Colin Miller	59	2.2	N/A
	UKIP	Peter Burkinshaw	33	1.3	N/A
Majority			127	4.8	+3.7
Turnout			2,639
	Labour hold		Swing	1.9

This seat had been vacant since December 2022 following the resignation of the previous Labour councillor, Carla McQueen. Alice Gilderdale had previously been councillor for Market ward.

King's Hedges

King's Hedges

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alex Collis*	798	39.2	–11.4
	Conservative	Mohamed Delowar Hossain	650	31.9	+18.9
	Liberal Democrats	Fionna Tod	305	15.0	–5.0
	Green	Adrian Mark Matthews	285	14.0	–2.4
Majority			148	7.3	–23.3
Turnout			2,038
	Labour hold		Swing	15.2

Market

Market

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony William Martinelli	796	41.2	–2.2
	Labour	Rosy Greenlees	671	34.7	+2.1
	Green	Krzysztof Strug	283	14.6	–2.9
	Conservative	James Appiah	184	9.5	+2.9
Majority			125	6.5	–4.3
Turnout			1,934
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	2.2

Newnham

Newnham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Jean Margaret Glasberg	895	40.5	+15.5
	Labour	Anne Miller	756	34.2	–2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Chang Liu	398	18.0	–15.0
	Conservative	Susan Williams	161	7.3	+1.7
Majority			139	6.3	N/A
Turnout			2,210
	Green gain from Labour		Swing	8.9

This seat had been vacant since March 2023 following the resignation of Labour councillor Niamh Sweeney.

Petersfield

Petersfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Katie Thornburrow*	1,302	49.5	–6.1
	Liberal Democrats	Emmanuel Carraud	509	19.4	–2.0
	Green	Joshua Morris-Blake	449	17.1	+0.8
	Conservative	Paul Roper	370	14.1	+7.4
Majority			793	30.1	–4.1
Turnout			2,630
	Labour hold		Swing	2.1

Queen Edith's

Queen Edith's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Karen Young	1,131	37.9	–4.1
	Labour	Thomas Ron	709	23.7	–7.1
	Conservative	Gordon Gregory	580	19.4	+6.0
	Green	Jacqueline Whitmore	306	10.2	–3.6
	Independent	Antony Carpen	261	8.7	N/A
Majority			422	14.2	+3.0
Turnout			2,987
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	1.5

Romsey

Romsey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mairéad Healy*	1,219	45.5	–12.6
	Green	Suzie Webb	555	20.7	+2.5
	Conservative	Mohammed Azamuddin	514	19.2	+11.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Walmsley	389	14.5	–1.1
Majority			664	24.8	–15.1
Turnout			2,677
	Labour hold		Swing	7.6

Trumpington

Trumpington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ingrid Flaubert*	931	35.6	–6.5
	Labour	Carlos Toranzos	752	28.8	–2.4
	Conservative	Shapour Meftah	605	23.1	+9.2
	Green	Chloe Mosonyi	327	12.5	–0.4
Majority			179	6.8	–4.1
Turnout			2,615
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	2.1

West Chesterton

West Chesterton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rachel Wade	1,314	42.4	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jamie Dalzell	1,008	32.6	–1.1
	Conservative	Michael Harford	412	13.3	+6.6
	Green	Shayne Mitchell	362	11.7	+0.5
Majority			306	9.8
Turnout			3,096
	Labour hold		Swing	1.8

By-elections

King's Hedges

King's Hedges by-election, 4 July 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Delowar Hossain	622	34.9	+3.0
	Labour	Zarina Anwar	598	33.6	–5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jamie Dalzell	418	23.5	+8.5
	Green	Elizabeth May	142	8.0	–6.0
Majority			24	1.3	N/A
Turnout			1,780	26.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	4.3

The King's Hedges by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labour councillor Alex Collis on 15 May 2023.^[7] It marked the first Conservative Cambridge City Council victory since 2012.

Queen Edith's

Queen Edith's: 23 November 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Immy Blackburn-Horgan	745	35.0	–2.9
	Labour	Thomas Ron	678	31.8	+8.1
	Conservative	David Carmona	454	21.3	+1.9
	Green	Oliver Fisher	252	11.8	+1.6
Majority			67	3.2	–11.0
Turnout			2,129	32.3
Registered electors			6,591
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing	5.5

References

1. "Notice of Election" (PDF). Cambridge City Council. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
2. Olsson, Hannah (28 April 2023). "Local elections 2023: Might congestion charge plan decide Cambridge vote?". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
3. Gardner, Gemma (14 May 2023). "Cambridge Labour replace Anna Smith as leader with Mike Davey named successor". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
4. "Cambridge result - Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
5. "Election results by wards, 4 May 2023". democracy.cambridge.gov.uk. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
6. Gardner, Gemma (23 March 2023). "Former Cambridge City Council leader Lewis Herbert steps down as councillor". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
7. Brackley, Paul (5 July 2023). "Conservatives win first seat of Cambridge City Council with King's Hedges by-election victory for Delowar Hossain". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 8 July 2023.