2023 Rochford District Council election

The 2023 Rochford District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Rochford District Council in Essex, England. This would be on the same day as other local elections in England.

2023 Rochford District Council election

← 2022 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2024 →

13 out of 39 seats to Rochford District Council
20 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Simon Wootton[1] James Newport
Party Conservative Independent Liberal Democrats
Last election 21 seats, 38.4% 2 seats, 5.1% 5 seats, 17.7%
Seats before 18 10 5
Seats won 5 1 4
Seats after 14 9 8
Seat change Decrease 3 Decrease 1 Increase 3
Popular vote 6,393 1,621 5,002
Percentage 31.9% 8.1% 25.0%
Swing Decrease 6.5% Increase 4.7% Increase 7.3%

  Fourth party Fifth party
  Blank Blank
Leader Christine Mason
Party Rochford Resident Green
Last election 10 seats, 21.0% 1 seat, 4.8%
Seats before 5 1
Seats won 3 0
Seats after 7 1
Seat change Increase 1 Steady
Popular vote 2,767 889
Percentage 13.8% 4.4%
Swing Decrease 7.2% Decrease 0.4%


Leader before election

Simon Wootton
Conservative
No overall control

Leader after election

John Mason
Rochford District Residents
No overall control

Less than three months before the election, three Conservative councillors left the party, putting the council under no overall control with the Conservatives becoming a minority administration. Prior to that, the Conservatives had held a majority of the seats on the council since 2002.[2]

The election saw the council remain under no overall control. A coalition of the Rochford District Residents, Liberal Democrats, Greens and independent councillors subsequently formed an administration, with John Mason of the Rochford District Residents being appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 23 May 2023.[3]

Summary

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Election result

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2023 Rochford District Council election
Party This election Full council This election
Seats Net Seats % Other Total Total % Votes Votes % +/−
  Conservative 5   3 38.5 9 14 35.9 6,393 31.9 –6.5
  Independent 1   1 7.7 8 9 23.1 1,621 8.1 +4.7
  Liberal Democrats 4   3 30.8 4 8 20.5 5,002 25.0 +7.3
  Rochford Resident 3   1 23.1 4 7 17.9 2,767 13.8 –7.2
  Green 0   0.0 1 1 2.6 889 4.4 –0.4
  Labour 0   0.0 0 0 0.0 2,891 14.4 –0.2
  Britain First 0   0.0 0 0 0.0 214 1.1 N/A
  Reform UK 0   0.0 0 0 0.0 187 0.9 N/A
  ADF 0   0.0 0 0 0.0 47 0.2 N/A

Ward results

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

Downhall & Rawreth

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Downhall & Rawreth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats James Newport* 1,050 68.0 +1.1
Conservative Stuart Belton 296 19.2 –5.0
Labour James Hedges 126 8.2 –0.7
Reform UK Grant Randall 71 4.6 N/A
Majority 754 48.8 +6.1
Turnout 1,543 27.9 +0.2
Registered electors 5,530
Liberal Democrats hold Swing  3.0

Foulness & The Wakerings

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Foulness & The Wakerings
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Daniel Efde* 731 55.4 –17.9
Labour Philip Hannan 421 31.9 +5.2
Liberal Democrats Deborah Taylor 168 12.7 N/A
Majority 310 23.5 –23.1
Turnout 1,320 23.2 –3.6
Registered electors 5,690
Conservative hold Swing  11.6

Hawkwell East

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Hawkwell East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Rochford Resident Elliot Mason 513 36.1 –5.5
Conservative Mike Webb* 436 30.7 –7.8
Green Rachel White 213 15.0 N/A
Labour Victoria Williams 213 15.0 –4.8
ADF Mark Vallance 47 3.3 N/A
Majority 77 5.4 +2.3
Turnout 1,422 30.3 +0.3
Registered electors 4,693
Rochford Resident gain from Conservative Swing  1.2

Hawkwell West

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Hawkwell West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Rochford Resident Nick Booth 870 54.3 +15.3
Conservative Toni Carter* 432 27.0 –22.6
Labour Keith Montgomery 166 10.4 –0.9
Green Andrew White 134 8.4 N/A
Majority 438 27.3 N/A
Turnout 1,602 32.2 –1.5
Registered electors 4,975
Rochford Resident hold Swing  19.0

Hockley

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Hockley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Rochford Resident Adrian Eves* 929 60.0 +5.8
Conservative James Hall 386 24.9 –7.8
Labour Ian Rooke 233 15.1 +1.9
Majority 543 35.1 +13.6
Turnout 1,548 30.6 –1.0
Registered electors 5,059
Rochford Resident hold Swing  6.8

Hockley & Ashingdon

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Hockley & Ashingdon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mike Carter* 472 28.9 –8.7
Rochford Resident Phil Capon 455 27.9 +10.8
Britain First Paul Harding 214 13.1 N/A
Labour Hollie Ridley 190 11.6 +1.8
Liberal Democrats Roger Gardner 173 10.7 –8.3
Green Leanne Dalby 126 7.8 N/A
Majority 17 1.0 –17.8
Turnout 1,630 31.7 –0.6
Registered electors 5,142
Conservative hold Swing  9.8

Hullbridge

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Hullbridge
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Tracey Knight* 982 58.7 N/A
Conservative Kelly Moody 469 28.0 –3.7
Labour David Lench 223 13.3 –0.9
Majority 513 30.7 N/A
Turnout 1,674 29.4 –4.0
Registered electors 5,694
Independent hold Swing N/A

Lodge

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Lodge
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Ward* 687 42.3 +2.0
Independent Ian Wilson 639 39.3 N/A
Labour Patricia Norrington 300 18.5 +6.2
Majority 48 3.0 N/A
Turnout 1,626 31.5 –1.6
Registered electors 5,162
Conservative hold Swing N/A

Roche North & Rural

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Roche North & Rural
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Simon Wootton* 409 31.3 –13.2
Labour Myra Weir 358 27.4 +5.2
Liberal Democrats Daniel Irlam 281 21.5 –11.6
Green John-Barry Waldron 256 19.7 N/A
Majority 51 3.9 –7.6
Turnout 1,304 25.4 –2.3
Registered electors 5,134
Conservative hold Swing  9.2

Roche South

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Roche South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Arthur Williams* 490 40.9 –2.8
Labour Shona Hyde-Williams 348 29.0 +4.7
Liberal Democrats Derek Brown 200 16.7 N/A
Green Samantha Spiteri 160 13.4 N/A
Majority 142 11.9 +0.2
Turnout 1,198 25.1 –1.2
Registered electors 4,773
Conservative hold Swing  3.8

Sweyne Park & Grange

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Sweyne Park & Grange
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Elizabeth Brewer 1,039 72.9 N/A
Conservative Scott Peters 387 27.1 –1.3
Majority 652 45.8 N/A
Turnout 1,426 29.2 +0.4
Registered electors 4,884
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing N/A

Trinity

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Trinity
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Sarah Page 1,149 58.1 –2.5
Conservative Cheryl Roe* 698 35.3 +3.7
Labour Billy Ridley 130 6.6 –1.1
Majority 451 22.8 –6.8
Turnout 1,977 36.3 –0.8
Registered electors 5,446
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing  3.4

Wheatley

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Wheatley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Richard Linden 942 54.1 +14.7
Conservative Ian Beatwell 500 28.7 +0.2
Labour Lorraine Ridley 183 10.5 +2.0
Reform UK Adrian Short 116 6.7 N/A
Majority 442 25.4 +14.5
Turnout 1,741 34.6 –2.1
Registered electors 5,032
Liberal Democrats gain from Independent Swing  7.3

References

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  1. ^ "What is Council and Democracy?". Rochford District Council. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  2. ^ Dedman, Simon (24 February 2023). "Tories lose control of council after three quit". BBC News. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  3. ^ Dedman, Simon (24 May 2023). "Colchester: Power-sharing ends between Labour and Lib Dems". BBC News. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Rochford District Council. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  5. ^ Meyler, Piers (11 April 2023). "Every Rochford local election candidates 2023 and where they are standing". Essex Live. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Election results". Rochford District Council. Retrieved 19 July 2023.