2023 Mid Suffolk District Council election

The 2023 Mid Suffolk District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Mid Suffolk District Council in Suffolk, England.^[2] This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

2023 Mid Suffolk District Council election

← 2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 34 seats to Mid Suffolk District Council 18 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	36.9%
First party Second party   Leader Andy Mellen Suzie Morley (defeated) Party Green Conservative Last election 12 seats, 34.0% 16 seats, 40.6% Seats before 12 16 Seats won 24 6 Seat change 12 10 Popular vote 23,274 11,457 Percentage 56.8% 28.0% Swing 22.8% 12.6%   Third party Fourth party   Leader John Field[1] Party Liberal Democrats Independent Last election 5 seats, 17.7% 1 seat, 3.4% Seats before 5 1 Seats won 4 0 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 4,451 n/a Percentage 10.9% n/a Swing 6.8% n/a
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Mid Suffolk District Council election
Leader before election Suzie Morley Conservative No overall control Leader after election Andy Mellen Green

Summary

Ahead of the election the council was identified as a target for the Green Party. The council had been under no overall control since the previous election in 2019, and the Conservatives had retained minority control only with the support of the independent councillor and the chair's casting vote. At the 2019 election in the Stowmarket St Peters ward the Conservative candidate had only won by a single vote.^[3]

The Green Party launched their local election campaign in Stowmarket on 5 April 2023.^[4]

The council has become highly increasingly closely fought in recent years, partly due to local opposition to large-scale housing development and concerns of damage to the rural environment.^[5]

The Greens won majority control following the election, and the Conservative leader of the council, Suzie Morley, lost her seat. It was the first time in the Green Party's history that they had taken majority control of a council.^[6] The Green group leader, Andy Mellen, was formally appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 22 May 2023.^[7]

Overall result

The overall results were:^[8]

2023 Mid Suffolk District Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Green	29	24	12	0	12	70.6	56.8	23,274	+22.8
	Conservative	27	6	0	10	10	17.6	28.0	11,457	–12.6
	Liberal Democrats	13	4	0	1	1	11.8	10.9	4,451	–6.8
	Labour	8	0	0	0		0.0	3.6	1,490	–0.3
	Reform UK	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.7	303	New

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Mid Suffolk District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.^[9] The results were as follows, with an asterisk (*) indicating an incumbent councillor standing for re-election.^[10][11]

Bacton

Bacton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Andy Mellen*	745	75.5	+10.6
	Conservative	John Davie-Thornhill	207	21.0	–14.1
	Liberal Democrats	David Appleton	35	3.5	N/A
Majority			538	54.5	+24.5
Turnout			992	42.8	+5.6
Registered electors			2,317
	Green hold		Swing	12.5

Battisford and Ringshall

Battisford & Ringshall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Dan Pratt*	608	68.6	+11.5
	Conservative	David Whybrow	226	25.5	–17.4
	Liberal Democrats	David Payne	52	5.9	N/A
Majority			382	43.1	+39.1
Turnout			888	35.8	+4.3
Registered electors			2,482
	Green hold		Swing	14.5

Blakenham

Blakenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Adrienne Marriott	434	55.5	+3.8
	Conservative	Steven Wells	348	44.5	+15.9
Majority			86	9.0	–14.1
Turnout			792	26.8	–1.4
Registered electors			2,956
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	6.0

Bramford

Bramford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Caston*	395	54.3	–3.3
	Green	Emma Buckmaster	201	27.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Attila Borzak	132	18.1	–24.3
Majority			194	27.0	+11.8
Turnout			732	34.3	+3.1
Registered electors			2,134
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.3

Chilton (Stowmarket)

Chilton (Stowmarket) (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Terence Carter*	1,062	71.7	+23.4
	Green	David Napier	998	67.4	N/A
	Conservative	Vikash Mantha	426	28.8	–19.9
Turnout			1,481	30.1	+4.6
Registered electors			4,923
	Green gain from Conservative
	Green hold

Claydon and Barham

Claydon & Barham (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	David Penny	708	42.9	+2.8
	Conservative	John Whitehead*	654	39.6	–13.8
	Green	Benjamin MacKinnon	624	37.8	N/A
	Conservative	Nick Gowrley	572	34.6	–16.5
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Wheatley	223	13.5	–17.0
	Labour	Terence Wilson	185	11.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	David Poulson	144	8.7	N/A
Turnout			1,651	35.3	+4.3
Registered electors			4,682
	Green gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Combs Ford (Stowmarket)

Combs Ford (Stowmarket) (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Scarff*	1,059	70.1	+31.6
	Green	Miles Row	1,029	68.1	+37.4
	Conservative	Kieren Lathangue-Clayton	672	44.5	+13.8
	Reform UK	David Card	250	16.5	N/A
Turnout			1,511	32.5	+2.0
Registered electors			4,648
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Green gain from Independent

Debenham

Debenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Teresa Davis	684	61.9	N/A
	Conservative	Henry Dobell	421	38.1	–32.0
Majority			263	23.8	N/A
Turnout			1,108	45.0	+8.0
Registered electors			2,463
	Green gain from Conservative

Elmswell and Woolpit

Elmswell & Woolpit (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Sarah Mansel*	1,583	76.7	+17.1
	Green	Jen Overett	1,358	65.8	+11.0
	Conservative	Jason Duggan	623	30.2	–12.4
Turnout			2,065	37.2	+2.2
Registered electors			5,558
	Green hold
	Green hold

Eye

Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Lucy Elkin	693	70.2	N/A
	Conservative	Kev Crispin	294	29.8	–23.1
Majority			399	40.0	N/A
Turnout			995	44.2
Registered electors			2,249
	Green gain from Conservative

Fressingfield

Fressingfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lavinia Hadingham*	546	51.5	–3.3
	Green	Colin MacKinnon	515	48.5	+26.7
Majority			31	3.0	–30.0
Turnout			1,071	44.7	+4.5
Registered electors			2,397
	Conservative hold		Swing	15.0

Gislingham

Gislingham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Rowland Warboys*	792	71.5	+22.7
	Conservative	Anne-Marie Hogan	315	28.5	–12.1
Majority			477	43.0	+34.6
Turnout			1,122	42.8	+1.8
Registered electors			2,622
	Green hold		Swing	17.4

Haughley, Stowupland and Wetherden

Haughley, Stowupland & Wetherden (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Rachel Eburne*	1,407	80.2	+2.0
	Green	Janet Pearson	1,210	69.0	–4.2
	Conservative	Lesley Canham	425	24.2	+4.9
Turnout			1,754	36.0	–4.0
Registered electors			4,866
	Green hold
	Green hold

Hoxne and Worlingworth

Hoxne & Worlingworth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Matthew Hicks*	509	51.2	–7.7
	Green	Charlie Meyer	287	28.9	+8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Card	97	9.8	–2.1
	Labour	Stephen Nixon	92	9.3	+0.2
Majority			222	22.3	–15.2
Turnout			994	42.6	+1.9
Registered electors			2,334
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.3

Mendlesham

Mendlesham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Andrew Stringer*	816	79.1	+7.1
	Conservative	Paul Allen	215	20.8	–7.2
Majority			601	58.2	+14.4
Turnout			1,032	41.6	–7.9
Registered electors			2,479
	Green hold		Swing	+7.1

Needham Market

Needham Market (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Ross Piper	943	53.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Terry Lawrence	673	37.9	–25.6
	Liberal Democrats	Sylvie Watson	636	35.9	–24.4
	Conservative	Kay Oakes	564	31.8	–1.3
Turnout			1,774	34.4	+6.2
Registered electors			5,160
	Green gain from Liberal Democrats
	Liberal Democrats hold

Onehouse

Onehouse

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	John Matthissen*	534	58.6	+3.0
	Conservative	James Spencer	283	31.0	+1.6
	Labour	Rob Davies	87	9.5	N/A
Majority			251	27.5	+1.7
Turnout			912	39.3	+0.9
Registered electors			2,318
	Green hold		Swing	0.7

Palgrave

Palgrave

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Tim Weller	536	51.9	+10.0
	Conservative	Tim Passmore	444	43.0	–15.1
	Reform UK	Evan Heasley	53	5.1	N/A
Majority			92	9.0	N/A
Turnout			1,034	43.8	+5.4
Registered electors			2,360
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing	12.6

Rattlesden

Rattlesden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Nicky Willshere	694	65.4	+2.0
	Conservative	Stephen Gerrish	351	33.1	+7.4
Majority			343	32.3	+5.0
Turnout			1,061	42.5	+1.6
Registered electors			2,497
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	2.7

Rickinghall

Rickinghall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gilly Morgan	466	53.0	−9.4
	Labour	Bob Caley	395	44.9	+7.3
Majority			71	8.1	−15.6
Turnout			879	36.7	+1.4
Registered electors			2,396
	Conservative hold		Swing	-9.4

St Peters (Stowmarket)

St Peters (Stowmarket)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Ollie Walters	589	73.7	N/A
	Conservative	Richard Stevens	210	26.3	–23.8
Majority			379	47.4	N/A
Turnout			808	35.5	+9.7
Registered electors			2,275
	Green gain from Conservative

Stonham

Stonham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Nicholas Hardingham	615	59.5	+26.5
	Conservative	Suzie Morley*	419	40.5	–3.5
Majority			196	19.0	N/A
Turnout			1,045	45.2	+5.4
Registered electors			2,313
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing	15.0

Stow Thorney (Stowmarket)

Stow Thorney (Stowmarket) (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Colin Lay	662	59.3	+14.0
	Green	James Patchett	525	47.0	N/A
	Conservative	Steve Runciman	359	32.2	−19.6
	Labour	Will Howman	280	25.1	−0.9
Turnout			1116	26.5	+4.5
Registered electors			4,209
	Green gain from Conservative
	Green hold

Stadbroke and Laxfield

Stadbroke & Laxfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anders Linder	441	46.7	−21.5
	Green	Gemma Whitehouse	263	27.9	N/A
	Labour	Paul Theaker	155	16.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	James Fawcett	82	8.7	−30.1
Majority			178	18.9	−16.0
Turnout			944	37.1	−1.7
Registered electors			2,546
	Conservative hold		Swing	21.5

Thurston

Thurston (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	David Bradbury	1,288	34.7	−10.9
	Green	Austin Davies*	1,224	33.0	+5.7
	Conservative	Harry Richardson*	716	19.3	−20.1
	Liberal Democrats	Oliver Hurdwell	190	5.1	−7.7
	Labour	Philip Cockell	164	4.4	−4.1
	Labour	Jean Staff	132	3.6
Turnout			3714	40.6
Registered electors			5,193
	Green hold
	Green gain from Conservative

Walsham-le-Willows

Walsham-le-Willows

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Richard Winch	775	68.5	+43.7
	Conservative	Philippa Wilding	356	31.5	−19.3
Majority			419	37.0
Turnout			1140	42.7
Registered electors			2,672
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing

References

1. Middleton, Siobhan (24 April 2023). "Suffolk local elections 2023: The Liberal Democrats set out their stall". Suffolk News. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
2. "Notice of Election" (PDF). Mid Suffolk District Council. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
3. Geater, Paul (12 April 2023). "Is Mid Suffolk about to turn Green in council election?". Ipswich Star. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
4. Walker, Peter (2023-04-05). "Greens launch local elections campaign with pledge to push for rent controls". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
5. "Local elections 2023: Greens eye first council win in former Tory heartland". BBC News. 2023-04-18. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
6. Irwin, Vikki; Cooper, Pete (5 May 2023). "Local elections 2023: Greens secure victory in Mid Suffolk". BBC News. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
7. Nicholl, Kaia (23 May 2023). "New Mid Suffolk District Council leader Andy Mellen outlines priorities and promises 'a greener and more sustainable direction'". Suffolk News. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
8. "Mid Suffolk result – Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
9. "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED, NOTICE OF POLL & SITUATION OF POLLING STATIONS" (PDF). Mid Suffolk District Council. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
10. "Councillors for Mid Suffolk District". Mid Suffolk District Council. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
11. "Declaration of result of poll". Mid Suffolk District Council. Retrieved 6 January 2024.