2023 Dacorum Borough Council election

The 2023 Dacorum Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Dacorum Borough Council in Hertfordshire, England.^[1] This was the same day as other local elections. The election resulted in the Liberal Democrats gaining control of the council from the Conservatives^[2]

2023 Dacorum Borough Council election

← 2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 51 seats to Dacorum Borough Council 26 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Ron Tindall Andrew Williams Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Last election 19 seats, 31.7% 31 seats, 42.8% Seats before 19 31 Seats won 28 18 Seat change 9 13 Popular vote 33,077 27,174 Percentage 42.3% 34.8% Swing 10.6% 8.0%   Third party Fourth party   Party Labour Independent Last election 0 seats, 15.5% 1 seat, 0.8% Seats before 0 1 Seats won 3 2 Seat change 3 1 Popular vote 13,943 1,061 Percentage 17.8 1.4% Swing 2.3% 0.6%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Dacorum Borough Council election
Leader before election Andrew Williams Conservative Leader after election Ron Tindall Liberal Democrats

At the subsequent annual council meeting on 17 May 2023 the Liberal Democrat leader Ron Tindall was appointed leader of the council, replacing Conservative leader Andrew Williams who had held the post since 1999.^[3]

Summary

Election result

2023 Dacorum Borough Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	51	28	9	0	9	54.9	42.3	33,077	+10.6
	Conservative	50	18	0	13	13	35.3	34.8	27,174	–8.0
	Labour	50	3	3	0	3	5.9	17.8	13,943	+2.3
	Independent	2	2	1	0	1	3.9	1.4	1,061	+0.6
	Green	19	0	0	0		0.0	3.2	2,524	–4.8
	Reform UK	4	0	0	0		0.0	0.5	367	N/A

Ward results

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

Adeyfield East

Adeyfield East (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Williams*	434	42.9	–3.9
	Labour	Barbara Pesch	423	41.8	+17.2
	Conservative	William Wyatt-Lowe	417	41.2	–7.7
	Labour	David Taylor	400	39.5	+16.1
	Liberal Democrats	Faith Thornhill	190	18.8	+10.4
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Thornhill	161	15.9	+8.1
Turnout				22.1
	Conservative hold
	Labour gain from Conservative

Adeyfield West

Adeyfield West (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian England*	654	63.3	–0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Ron Tindall*	612	59.3	–0.8
	Labour	Gary Cook	220	21.3	+5.2
	Conservative	Adam Wyatt-Lowe	206	20.0	–1.1
	Labour	Helen Heenan	187	18.1	+2.8
	Conservative	Bola Ibrahim	186	18.0	+0.3
Turnout				22.7
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Aldbury and Wigginton

Aldbury and Wigginton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Reynolds	471	57.3	–5.8
	Conservative	Paul Richardson	307	37.3	+0.4
	Labour	Deborah Charlton	44	5.4	N/A
Turnout			822	38.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	3.1

Apsley and Corner Hall

Apsley and Corner Hall (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Deacon	1,053	51.7	+26.3
	Liberal Democrats	Toni Cox	990	48.6	+25.0
	Liberal Democrats	Carrie Link	978	48.0	+24.8
	Conservative	Brian Collier	711	34.9	–9.4
	Conservative	Charlotte Palmer	647	31.7	–7.7
	Conservative	Babita Sinha*	589	28.9	–9.8
	Labour	Samidha Garg	404	19.8	–7.5
	Labour	Daniel Worker	375	18.4	–7.8
	Labour	Shanmugam Jagatharan	367	18.0	–6.5
Turnout				29.8
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Ashridge

Ashridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terry Douris*	643	67.5	–1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Jordan	239	25.1	+1.5
	Labour	Jody Whitehall	70	7.4	+0.4
Turnout			952	39.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.7

Bennetts End

Bennetts End (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pete Hannell	500	40.6	+7.4
	Independent	John Birnie*	483	39.2	N/A
	Labour	Lin Greenfield	391	31.7	–1.1
	Conservative	Mark Rogers*	359	29.1	–7.1
	Conservative	Muhammad Khan	313	25.4	–11.4
	Green	Andy Lambert	166	13.5	–2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Lovell	129	10.5	–6.5
	Liberal Democrats	Lynda Roe	124	10.1	–3.0
Turnout				26.9
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Independent gain from Conservative

John Birnie had been elected as a Conservative in 2019, but stood as an independent candidate in this election.

Berkhamsted Castle

Berkhamsted Castle (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Bristow	1,287	65.3	+15.6
	Liberal Democrats	Rick Freedman*	1,205	61.1	+7.7
	Conservative	Sue Beardshaw	477	24.2	–7.5
	Conservative	Anthony Armytage	460	23.3	–7.1
	Green	Leslie Tate	189	9.6	–10.2
	Labour	Kae Meeks	155	7.9	+0.4
	Labour	Kevin Dunford	112	5.7	+1.2
	Reform UK	Lesley Taylor	57	2.9	N/A
Turnout				37.5
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Berkhamsted East

Berkhamsted East (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Garrick Stevens*	1,300	69.4	+8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Nigel Taylor*	1,065	56.8	+12.7
	Conservative	Ian Reay	415	22.2	–5.4
	Green	Kevin Fielding	298	15.5	–5.6
	Conservative	Rene De Silva	290	15.5	–5.6
	Labour	Michael Bromberg	218	11.6	–0.8
	Labour	Jay Gladdy	161	8.6	N/A
Turnout				36.0
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Berkhamsted West

Berkhamsted West (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Symington*	1,155	75.1	+20.5
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Stewart	987	64.2	+14.9
	Conservative	Carol Green	451	29.3	–0.8
	Labour	Rebecca Mackenzie	192	12.5	+4.6
	Green	Bernard Hurley	179	11.6	–4.6
	Labour	Christopher Roberts	112	7.3	+0.5
Turnout				31.1
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Bovingdon, Flaunden and Chipperfield

Bovingdon, Flaunden and Chipperfield (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stewart Riddick*	1,116	53.7	–2.9
	Conservative	Gbola Adeleke*	1,070	51.5	+0.6
	Conservative	Philip Walker	1,026	49.3	–12.8
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Bell	630	30.3	+9.2
	Green	Wiebke Carr	493	23.7	–8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Adam Hawkswood	462	22.2	+2.6
	Labour	Michael Buttleman	420	20.2	+8.9
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Hollinghurst	400	19.2	+1.9
	Labour	Antony Fitzgerald	331	15.9	N/A
	Labour	James Wignall	291	14.0	N/A
Turnout				28.8
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Boxmoor

Boxmoor (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	William Allen*	1,668	70.1	+24.9
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Hobson*	1,563	65.7	+22.4
	Liberal Democrats	Simy Dhyani*	1,451	61.0	+21.7
	Conservative	Peter Allen	620	26.1	–7.9
	Conservative	Grace Froggatt	551	23.2	–8.4
	Conservative	Carole Levene	498	20.9	–8.9
	Labour	Andrew Suzmeyan	273	11.5	–3.5
	Labour	Lee Whitehill	262	11.0	–0.5
	Labour	Helen Terry	252	10.6	+1.5
Turnout				31.4
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Chaulden and Warners End

Chaulden and Warners End (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fiona Guest*	923	49.6	–3.1
	Conservative	Graeme Elliot*	835	44.9	–3.0
	Conservative	Nigel Durrant*	828	44.9	–3.5
	Labour	Kit Wales	602	32.3	+9.0
	Labour	Anne Harradine	594	31.9	+10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Kennedy	594	31.9	+13.6
	Liberal Democrats	Diane Wilson	527	28.3	+15.7
	Liberal Democrats	Allison Mackenzie	516	27.7	+15.2
	Reform UK	Michael Potts	158	8.5	N/A
Turnout				26.7
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Gadebridge

Gadebridge (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Angela Mitchell	451	40.9	+14.8
	Conservative	Heather Pound	421	38.1	–5.2
	Conservative	Mark Bignell	405	36.7	–4.9
	Labour	Gary Ruff	370	33.5	+9.4
	Green	Christine Ridley	163	14.8	–3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Owen	141	12.8	–3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Angell	132	12.0	–4.2
	Green	Suzanne Watts	125	11.3	N/A
Turnout				25.9
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Grovehill

Grovehill (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julie Banks*	708	52.8	–1.8
	Conservative	Alex Bhinder*	689	51.4	–2.9
	Conservative	Goverdhan Silwal*	606	45.2	–1.2
	Labour	Jennifer Dickson	498	37.2	+15.9
	Labour	Stephen Fisher	446	33.3	+12.5
	Labour	Pat Dartnell	413	30.8	+13.9
	Liberal Democrats	Emma Macey	246	18.4	+8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Keay	175	13.1	+4.1
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Short	148	11.0	+2.1
	Reform UK	Noel Willcox	91	6.8	N/A
Turnout				23.0
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Hemel Hempstead Town

Hemel Hempstead Town (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sadie Hobson	621	49.1	+22.1
	Liberal Democrats	Victoria Santamaria	555	43.9	+20.0
	Labour	Malik Ijlal	358	28.3	+1.2
	Conservative	Rob Beauchamp*	351	27.8	+0.2
	Labour	Janet Ventiroso	337	26.7	+2.2
	Conservative	Mike Pound	307	24.3	–4.0
Turnout				23.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Highfield

Highfield (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brenda Link*	464	53.6	+11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Sammy Barry-Mears*	450	52.0	+12.6
	Labour	Vanessa Mitchell	228	26.4	+0.1
	Conservative	Chris Griffiths	213	24.6	+6.6
	Labour	Raymond York	207	23.9	–0.4
	Conservative	Bindu Gupta	168	19.4	+4.9
Turnout				20.5
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Kings Langley

Kings Langley (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Johnson*	673	54.6	+1.6
	Conservative	Alan Anderson*	646	52.4	–0.1
	Green	Ashley Lawrence	308	25.0	–3.0
	Labour	Julia Coleman	270	21.9	+11.9
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Parkins	201	16.3	–4.0
	Labour	Dominic Hook	185	15.0	+5.7
	Liberal Democrats	Holli Pandit	184	14.9	+3.1
Turnout				28.1
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Leverstock Green

Leverstock Green (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Robin Bromham	1,098	47.0	+28.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Gale	1,060	45.4	+30.2
	Liberal Democrats	Catherine McArevey	966	41.4	+30.3
	Conservative	Margaret Griffiths*	937	40.1	–11.4
	Conservative	Rosie Sutton*	928	39.7	–9.9
	Conservative	Neil Harden*	883	37.8	–17.2
	Labour	Stephen Alexander	349	14.9	–8.5
	Labour	Ian Laidlaw-Dickson	320	13.7	–6.1
	Labour	Mandi Tattershall	305	13.1	–3.9
	Green	Paul De Hoest	158	6.8	–11.8
Turnout				30.8
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Nash Mills

Nash Mills

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jan Maddern*	578	65.7	+1.7
	Conservative	Sanjay Jamuar	149	16.9	+0.3
	Labour	Jane Gibbons	107	12.2	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Alexander Bell	46	5.2	–4.9
Turnout			880	28.4
	Independent hold		Swing	0.7

Northchurch

Northchurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lara Pringle*	707	70.2	+4.3
	Conservative	Jackie Jones	214	21.3	–2.0
	Green	Rose Sheridan	47	4.7	–1.8
	Labour	Steve Ritchie	39	3.9	–0.4
Turnout			1,007	37.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	3.2

Tring Central

Tring Central (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sheron Wilkie*	902	63.5	+12.9
	Liberal Democrats	Carole Weston	780	54.9	+15.4
	Conservative	Keith Baker	317	22.3	–9.6
	Conservative	Phil Hills	305	21.5	–2.7
	Labour	Jim Lawler	153	10.8	+1.5
	Green	Roger Oliver	140	9.9	–12.2
	Green	Mark Rutherford	130	9.1	N/A
	Labour	Jacob Ellett	115	8.1	N/A
Turnout				33.8
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Tring East

Tring East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michela Capozzi	580	51.0	+14.2
	Conservative	Penny Hearn*	435	38.2	–9.3
	Labour	Jack Curham	63	5.5	N/A
	Green	William Burgar	60	5.3	–10.5
Turnout			1,138	40.6
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	11.8

Tring West and Rural

Tring West and Rural (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Patterson	1,035	58.6	+7.9
	Liberal Democrats	John Mottershead	844	47.8	+1.3
	Conservative	Mike Hicks	501	28.3	–1.6
	Conservative	Justin Charlton-Jones	462	26.1	–2.5
	Green	Joe Stopps	376	21.3	–3.4
	Labour	Colin Phillips	164	9.3	–0.4
	Labour	Mark Rutherford	153	8.7	N/A
Turnout				36.3
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Watling

Watling (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jane Timmis*	686	49.2	–3.3
	Conservative	Edward Barradell	608	43.6	–9.4
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Symington	489	35.0	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Lloyd Harris	478	34.3	+20.1
	Labour	Emma Reed	253	18.1	N/A
	Labour	Alan Olive	216	15.5	N/A
Turnout				28.7
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Woodhall Farm

Woodhall Farm (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colette Wyatt-Lowe*	614	55.8	+1.6
	Conservative	Belinda Williams	576	52.3	–4.4
	Labour	Alan Dickson	299	27.2	+2.8
	Labour	Amanda Pollard	288	26.2	+5.3
	Liberal Democrats	David Egerton	201	18.3	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Deborah Curtis-England	163	14.8	–1.4
	Reform UK	Saba Poursaeedi	61	5.5	N/A
Turnout				23.1
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Changes 2023–2027

Tring West and Rural by-election, 22 February 2024

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Smith-Wright	899	62.7	+12.9
	Conservative	Mike Hicks	303	21.1	−3.0
	Green	Joe Stopps	122	8.5	−9.6
	Labour	Jim Lawler	109	7.6	−0.3
Majority			596	41.6	+15.9
Turnout			1,433	27.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	7.9

• Goverdhan Silwal, elected as a Conservative, left the party to sit as an independent in March 2024,^[6] before joining Labour in June 2024.^[7]
• Bennetts End councillor John Birnie died on 24 August 2024,^[8] thus leaving the seat vacant. As of 27 September 2024, a by-election has yet to be organised.
• On 25 September 2024, Claire Hobson announced that she and seven other female councillors: Sammy Barry-Mears, Michela Capozzi, Toni Cox, Lara Pringle, Victoria Santamaria, Carole Weston, and Sheron Wilkie, would be resigning from the local Liberal Democrat group after accusing council leader Adrian England and former council leader Ron Tindall of "failing to deal with allegations of bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment."^[9] Subsequently, the Liberal Democrats lost their majority on the council.

References

1. "Notice of Election" (PDF). Dacorum Borough Council. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
2. "Local elections 2023: Tories lose Dacorum, Hertsmere, East Herts and Welwyn Hatfield". BBC. BBC. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
3. Durrant, Will (22 May 2023). "Dacorum's first new leader for 24 years vows not to indulge in 'yah-boo' politics". Hemel Today. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
4. "Elections 2023". Dacorum Borough Council. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
5. Rutherford, Cameron (5 May 2023). "Dacorum local election 2023 results in full as Liberal Democrats earn majority with six seats gained while Tories fall". Herts Live. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
6. Boothroyd, David (29 March 2024). "Somerset turns another Page". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
7. Whitehill, Lee (4 June 2024). "Grove Hill councillor switches to Labour". Hemel Today. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
8. Soley, Kevin (28 August 2024). "Sad news regarding Councillor John Birnie". Dacorum Borough Council. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
9. Day, Christopher (26 September 2024). "Female councillors resign over harassment complaint". BBC News. Retrieved 26 September 2024.