2023 Ashford Borough Council election

2023 Ashford Borough Council election
All 47 seats to Ashford Borough Council; 24 seats needed for a majority
	Winner of each seat at the 2023 Ashford Borough Council election
Leader before election; Gerry Clarkson; Conservative; No overall control	Leader after election ; Noel Ovenden; Ashford Independents; No overall control

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

At the previous election in 2019, the Conservatives had held onto a majority winning 26 seats out of the 47 up for election. In the intervening years a number of by-elections and defections caused the council to go into no overall control, with the Conservatives continuing to govern as a minority administration, led by Gerry Clarkson. He chose not to stand for re-election in 2023.^[2]

The council remained under no overall control following election.^[3] The Conservatives remained the largest party, but a coalition of the Ashford Independents and the Greens formed a minority administration, with Ashford Independent councillor Noel Ovenden being appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 30 May 2023.^[4]

Summary

Election result

2023 Ashford Borough Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	47	19	1	8	7	40.4	35.7	14,133	–3.5
	Labour	47	11	4	0	4	23.4	25.1	9,951	+9.1
	Ashford Ind.	18	9	2	4	2	19.1	14.9	5,919	–4.2
	Green	27	8	6	0	6	17.0	18.1	7,183	+4.9
	Independent	4	0	0	1	1	0.0	1.5	626	–0.1
	Liberal Democrats	15	0	0	0		0.0	3.9	1,549	–2.5
	Reform UK	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	90	N/A
	TUSC	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	107	N/A

The gain and losses in the above summary results table depict the difference between the 2019 election and the 2023 election. It does not reflect changes since any by-elections in the intervening years.

Ward Results

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

Aylesford & East Stour

Aylesford & East Stour
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sojan Joseph	332	32.5	+9.6
	Green	Al Arnold	297	29.0	+14.5
	Labour	Reena Mathew	287	28.1	+6.7
	Green	Thom Pizzey	261	25.5	+17.5
	Ashford Ind.	Andy Rogers	258	25.2	−7.8
	Ashford Ind.	David Smith	243	23.8	−14.7
	Conservative	Brandon Hawkins	144	14.1	+0.5
	Conservative	Joanna McCafferty	136	13.3	+2.4
Turnout			1,023	23.2	−1.4
	Labour gain from Ashford Ind.		Swing
	Green gain from Ashford Ind.		Swing

Beaver

There had been a by-election held for one of the Beaver ward seats on 6 May 2021 which had resulted in the Conservatives gaining the seat from Labour.

Beaver
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kate Leavey	470	44.9	+5.4
	Labour	Lyn Suddards	437	41.7	−1.7
	Conservative	Dhan Limbu	285	27.2	+5.7
	Conservative	Neil Shorter	270	25.8	+9.2
	Ashford Ind.	Phill Thorne	215	20.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Jacquie Stamp	99	9.5	N/A
	TUSC	Garry Harrison	95	9.1	N/A
Turnout			1,047	22.2	+0.1
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Biddenden

Biddenden
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Bell	552	65.7	−6.3
	Green	Guy Pullen	175	20.8	−7.2
	Labour	Sarah Lucas	112	13.3	N/A
Turnout			845	34.6	+0.1
	Conservative hold

Bircholt

Bircholt
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Ind.	Simon Betty	294	31.6	*N/A*
	Conservative	William Howard	278	29.9	+29.9
	Green	Pat Marsh	132	14.2	N/A
	Labour	Julie Clift	116	12.5	N/A
	Independent	William Harbottle	106	11.4	N/A
Turnout			928	41.6	N/A
	Ashford Ind. gain from Conservative

Bockhanger

Bockhanger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Diccon Spain	340	65.7	+16.6
	Conservative	Shafi Khan	173	33.4	−5.5
Turnout			517	25.6	−2.1
	Labour hold

Bybrook

Bybrook
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Dean	261	33.5	+7.5
	Conservative	Jac Wood	248	31.9	+1.9
	Ashford Ind.	Howard Turner	230	29.6	−14.3
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Graham	37	4.7	N/A
Turnout			777	37.7	+4.5
	Labour gain from Ashford Ind.

Charing

Charing
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Yvonne Roden	473	65.0	−6.6
	Labour	Janet White	240	33.0	+4.6
Turnout			727	33.3	−0.6
	Conservative hold

Conningbrook & Little Burton Farm

Conningbrook & Little Burton Farm
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Ind.	Katy Pauley	272	43.7	−26.7
	Conservative	John Seaton	159	25.5	−4.1
	Labour	Dylan Jones	150	24.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Knight	40	6.4	N/A
Turnout			622	33	+1.4
	Ashford Ind. hold

Downs North

There had been a by-election held for the Downs North ward seat on 19 August 2021 which resulted in the Green gaining the seat from the Conservatives.

Downs North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Geoff Meaden	348	40.4	+16.9
	Conservative	Joseph Webb	247	28.7	−18.7
	Ashford Ind.	Chris Main	188	21.8	N/A
	Labour	Lisa Bouchat	51	5.9	−4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Wilcox	26	3.0	−15.7
Turnout			860	41.9	+2.4
	Green gain from Conservative

Downs West

Downs West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Larry Krause	435	53.9	−8.5
	Green	Vanessa Hutchinson	204	25.2	−3.1
	Labour	Geoff White	167	20.6	+11.3
Turnout			807	34.2	−0.5
	Conservative hold

Furley

Furley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Euan Anckorn	549	41.2	+7.3
	Conservative	Andrew Buchanan	506	38.0	+3.7
	Labour	Sharon McCormack	475	35.6	N/A
	Conservative	Trish Cornish	442	33.2	−0.6
	Green	Louise Homewood	310	23.3	−5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Gee-Turner	162	12.2	−6.0
Turnout			1,333	30.6	+0.8
	Labour hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Goat Lees

Goat Lees
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Ind.	Winston Michael	474	76.9	−5.9
	Labour	Ellie Crook	86	13.9	+6.1
	Conservative	Phil Sibbald	56	9.0	−0.5
Turnout			620	33.3	−4.7
	Ashford Ind. hold

Godinton

Godinton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Feacey	330	51.9	−3.6
	Labour	Mark Silvester	146	22.9	+3.3
	Green	Matt Baker	94	14.8	−10.0
	Liberal Democrats	Charlotte Mbali	53	8.3	N/A
	TUSC	Cameron Osmundsen	12	1.8	N/A
Turnout			638	32.7	+1.35
	Conservative hold

Highfield

There had been a by-election held for the Highfield ward seat on 16 December 2021 which resulted in the Greens gaining the seat from the Conservatives.

Highfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Dawnie Nilsson	464	58.9	+40.2
	Conservative	Payal Khandaker	205	26.0	−15.1
	Labour	David Gordon-Young	118	14.9	N/A
Turnout			788	38.9	+15.3
	Green gain from Conservative

Isle of Oxney

Isle of Oxney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Johnny Shilton	439	47.2	+47.2
	Ashford Ind.	Simon Honnor	318	34.2	N/A
	Labour	Robert Pursey	91	9.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Grayling	81	8.7	N/A
Turnout			931	42	+42
	Conservative hold

Kennington

Kennington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nathan Iliffe	389	55.4	−6.6
	Green	Philip Sims	161	22.9	N/A
	Labour	Kemar Harriot	152	21.6	N/A
Turnout			703	39.1	−11.4
	Conservative hold

Kingsnorth Village & Bridgefield

Kingsnorth Village & Bridgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Ind.	Ray Mcgeever	273	46.8	−22.3
	Conservative	David Robey	170	29.1	−1.8
	Labour	Kathy Walters	140	24.0	N/A
Turnout			584	26.8	−2.4
	Ashford Ind. hold

Mersham, Sevington South with Finberry

Mersham, Sevington South with Finberry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Bartlett	365	56.4	+56.4
	Green	Anne Mildon	169	26.1	N/A
	Labour	Chris Kennedy	113	17.4	N/A
Turnout			649	30.7	+30.7
	Conservative hold

Norman

Norman
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Jo Gambling	161	27.6	+14.6
	Labour	Dara Farrell	156	26.8	−4.4
	Conservative	Mark Starkings	149	25.6	−8.6
	Independent	Jenny Webb	116	19.9	−14.3
Turnout			583	28.3	−1.7
	Green gain from Conservative

Park Farm North

There had been a by-election held for the Park Farm North ward seat on 12 March 2020 which resulted in the Ashford Independents party gaining the seat from the Conservatives.

Park Farm North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Ind.	Ben Townend	178	35.8	*N/A*
	Conservative	Biswasdip Limbu	168	33.8	−27.7
	Labour	Terry Jones	151	30.3	+10.4
Turnout			498	26.5	+4.4
	Ashford Ind. hold

Park Farm South

Park Farm South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Katrina Giles	239	41.2	*N/A*
	Conservative	Jim Wedgbury	227	39.1	−22.0
	Labour	Aimee Babbs	114	19.6	−2.0
Turnout			581	31	+4.8
	Green gain from Conservative

Repton

Repton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Matthew Forest	405	48.2	−7.6
	Conservative	Bernard Heyes	337	40.1	−6.7
	Labour	Elizampeth Mylonogianni	323	38.4	+8.1
	Labour	Priti Paintal	307	36.5	N/A
	Green	Dave Higgins	138	16.4	−13.5
	Green	Jake Pentland	128	15.2	N/A
Turnout			841	25.7	+0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rolvenden & Tenterden West

Rolvenden & Tenterden West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Kate Walder	444	53.4	*N/A*
	Conservative	Tom Spiller	317	38.1	−0.7
	Labour	Amber Wardrop	70	8.4	N/A
Turnout			840	42	−4.8
	Green gain from Independent		Swing

Roman

Roman
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Ind.	Heather Hayward	374	62.7	+3.6
	Conservative	John Bentley	123	20.6	−10.6
	Labour	Terry Pavlou	99	16.6	+6.9
Turnout			597	27.6	−1.5
	Ashford Ind. hold

Saxon Shore

Saxon Shore
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Ind.	Linda Harman	593	72.2	+15.9
	Conservative	Laura Robinson	158	19.2	−24.5
	Labour	Dave Gathern	70	8.5	N/A
Turnout			823	39.4	−6.8
	Ashford Ind. hold

Singleton East

Singleton East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bill Barrett	164	34.8	−7.5
	Labour	Lydia Shomuyiwa	146	30.9	+2.8
	Ashford Ind.	Malcolm Wiffen	91	19.3	N/A
	Green	Andy Whybrow	43	9.1	−10.2
	Liberal Democrats	Robin Robinson	27	5.7	−4.6
Turnout			471	26.2	−0.7
	Conservative hold

Singleton West

Singleton West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sally Gathern	277	54.6	+17.1
	Conservative	Kalysha Howard-Smith	160	31.5	−10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Thornton-Allan	70	13.8	−6.5
Turnout			513	25.7	+1.9
	Labour gain from Conservative

Stanhope

Stanhope
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brendan Chilton	215	77.6	+10.5
	Green	Maria Pizzey	34	12.2	−2.4
	Conservative	Sarah Claydon	28	10.1	−8.2
Turnout			280	14.8	−5.5
	Labour hold

Tenterden North

Tenterden North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ken Mulholland	415	51.5	−21
	Labour	David Ward	202	25.0	−2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Bowen	118	14.6	N/A
	Green	Owen Elias	70	8.6	N/A
Turnout			809	40.4	+0.2
	Conservative hold

Tenterden South

Tenterden South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pam Smith	341	46.0	+46.0
	Independent	John Crawford	249	33.6	N/A
	Labour	Emma Maclennan	150	20.2	N/A
Turnout			743	35.2	+35.2
	Conservative hold

Tenterden St Michael's

Tenterden St Michael's
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Link	342	47.7	+47.7
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Medcalf	271	37.8	N/A
	Labour	Edward Lloyd	103	14.3	N/A
Turnout			718	34.2	+34.2
	Conservative hold

Upper Weald

Upper Weald
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clair Bell	392	57.5	+57.5
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Brannan	173	25.4	N/A
	Labour	Mark Harris	116	17.0	N/A
Turnout			687	33.2	+33.2
	Conservative hold

Victoria

Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tania Gauder	588	48.7	+10.1
	Labour	Charles Suddards	535	44.3	+14.2
	Conservative	Charles Ellis	294	24.3	+1.2
	Green	Kati Ramsden	267	22.1	−0.1
	Conservative	Tony Trilsbach	264	21.9	+2.1
	Green	Steve Sitton	222	18.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Newing	127	10.5	−11.4
Turnout			1,208	24.7	−4.1
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Washford

Washford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Clive Hallett	162	31.2	+11.2
	Independent	James Ransley	155	29.9	N/A
	Conservative	Dirk Ross	148	28.5	−23.0
	Green	Matt Palmer	53	10.2	−18.3
Turnout			521	25.3	+0.4
	Labour gain from Conservative

Weald Central

Weald Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Pickering	591	48.8	+0.2
	Conservative	Jessamy Blanford	569	46.9	−0.8
	Green	Philip Monaghan	298	24.6	+4.6
	Green	Alexander Bienfait	280	23.1	N/A
	Labour	Sue Hallett	234	19.3	+13.5
	Labour	Derek Smyth	187	15.4	+10.4
	Reform UK	Wendy Repasky	90	7.4	N/A
Turnout			1,212	30.88	−7.56
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Weald North

Weald North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kayleigh Brunger-Randall	467	50.1	+2.5
	Ashford Ind.	Philly Adams	249	26.7	N/A
	Green	Hilary Jones	127	13.6	−15.3
	Labour	Jordan Richardson	88	9.4	N/A
Turnout			935	44.3	−3.3
	Conservative hold

Weald South

Weald South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Ind.	David Ledger	617	41.5	−16.9
	Conservative	Aline Hicks	571	38.5	−5.9
	Ashford Ind.	George Sparks	511	34.4	−16.4
	Conservative	Nicola Denoon Duncan	500	33.7	−1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Theresa Dickens	229	15.4	N/A
	Labour	Norma Smyth	195	13.1	N/A
	Labour	Steven Horne	194	13.1	N/A
Turnout			1,485	34.6	−4.2
	Ashford Ind. hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Ashford Ind.		Swing

Willesborough

Willesborough
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Steven Campkin	1,102	69.3	+24.7
	Green	Liz Wright	962	60.5	+21.2
	Conservative	Patricia Speakman	328	20.6	−6.4
	Conservative	Charles Dehnel	301	18.9	−6.1
	Labour	Ifeyinwa Ajulufo	203	12.8	+1.9
	Labour	Ikechi Okere	171	10.7	N/A
Turnout			1,591	33.4
	Green hold		Swing
	Green hold		Swing

Wye with Hinxhill

Wye with Hinxhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ashford Ind.	Noel Ovenden	541	76.0	−5.2
	Conservative	John Lawton	72	10.1	−0.1
	Labour	Tahsil Hashemi	62	8.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	David Browne	36	5.0	−3.6
Turnout			711	38	−5.6
	Ashford Ind. hold

By-elections

Aylesford & East Stour: 17 October 2024

Aylesford & East Stour
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Thom Pizzey	299	31.6	+2.8
	Labour	Reena Mathew	293	31.0	−1.2
	Reform UK	Brian Collins	216	22.9	N/A
	Conservative	Jac Wood	111	11.7	−2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Alexander Coxall	26	2.8	N/A
Turnout			945	21.0	−2.2
	Green gain from Labour

References

^ Co-leaders

^ "NOTICE OF ELECTION" (PDF). Ashford Borough Council. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
^ Esson, Daniel (1 December 2022). "Ashford Borough Council leader Cllr Gerry Clarkson to stand down after 10 years". Kent Online. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
^ "Local Elections 2023: Results in Sussex, Kent and Essex". ITV News. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
^ Esson, Daniel (31 May 2023). "Ashford Independents and Greens take control of Ashford Borough Council after leadership vote shock for Conservatives". Kent Online. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
^ "Statement of Persons Nominated for Borough wards - May 2023". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
^ "May 2023 Local Elections Results". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

[1] Co-leaders

[2] "NOTICE OF ELECTION" (PDF). Ashford Borough Council. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.

[3] Esson, Daniel (1 December 2022). "Ashford Borough Council leader Cllr Gerry Clarkson to stand down after 10 years". Kent Online. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

[4] "Local Elections 2023: Results in Sussex, Kent and Essex". ITV News. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

[5] Esson, Daniel (31 May 2023). "Ashford Independents and Greens take control of Ashford Borough Council after leadership vote shock for Conservatives". Kent Online. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

[6] "Statement of Persons Nominated for Borough wards - May 2023". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 12 April 2023.

[7] "May 2023 Local Elections Results". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 25 September 2023.

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