2023 Cannock Chase District Council election

The 2023 Cannock Chase District election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect 17 of the 41 councillors on Cannock Chase District Council in Staffordshire, England.[3] on the same day as other local elections in England, including to eight parish councils in the district. The usual nominal third of the council (15 seats, one from each ward) was up for election, plus there were two vacancies to be filled, meaning a total of 17 councillors were elected.

2023 Cannock Chase District Council election

← 2022 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2024 →

17 out of 41 seats to Cannock Chase District Council
21 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Olivia Lyons Tony Johnson
Party Conservative Labour Green
Last election 25 seats, 42.1% 8 seats, 38.0% 2 seats, 6.1%
Seats before 22[a] 12 2
Seats won 4 9 4
Seats after 18 17 5
Seat change Decrease 4 Increase 5 Increase 3
Popular vote 6,626 9,269 3,352
Percentage 32.1% 44.9% 16.2%
Swing Decrease 10.0% Increase 6.9% Increase 10.1%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Blank Blank Blank
Party Liberal Democrats Independent Chase Indies
Last election 2 seats, 2.7% 1 seats, 0.9% 3 seats, 9.6%
Seats before 2 1 2[b]
Seats won 0 0 0
Seats after 1 0 0
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 1 Decrease 2
Popular vote 434 965 n/a
Percentage 2.1% 4.7% n/a
Swing Decrease 0.6% Increase 3.8% n/a

Winner of each seat at the 2023 Cannock Chase District Council election

Leader before election

Olivia Lyons
Conservative

Leader after election

Tony Johnson
Labour
No overall control

The council was under Conservative majority control prior to the election. The election saw the council go under no overall control, and a coalition of Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat coalition subsequently formed to run the council.[4]

Background

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At the previous 2022 election in Cannock Chase, the Conservatives retained the seats they were defending and gained one from Labour, increasing their overall majority. At the 2023 election, they were defending seven seats which they won at the 2019 election. Labour were looking to make gains for the first time since 2016 after being reduced to eight seats, their lowest ever seat total, at the 2022 election. Localist party the Chase Community Independent Group did not put up any candidates at this election; the Green Party were hoping to regain seats in the Hednesford area which they had held before the Chase Indies' formation in 2020. The Liberal Democrats were looking to retain one of two seats they held in the Brereton and Ravenhill ward; they did not field candidates in any other wards.

There had been substantial changes to the makeup of the council since the May 2022 election. Four Conservative councillors had resigned from the council whilst another had defected to Labour; the Conservatives successfully defended their Cannock West seat but lost the Hednesford North and Etching Hill and the Heath by-elections to Labour. This reduced their total from 25 councillors to 21. Meanwhile, the leader of the Chase Community Independent Group resigned his Hednesford South seat shortly before the election was called. This, along with a last minute Conservative resignation in Cannock East, resulted in there being two councillors elected in two of the council's wards.

The outcome of the election was a decisive shift to Labour, with them picking up the highest number of votes and seats for the first time since the 2016 election.[5] Labour gained three seats from the Conservatives, one from the Liberal Democrats, and regained a seat in Cannock North which had been held by a former Labour independent councillor. This boosted their seat count from 12 just before the election to 17. The Conservatives saw their vote share drop by 10% for the second year in a row, leading to them losing three seats and their overall majority. They remained the largest party by a single seat. The Greens regained three seats in Hednesford which had been held by former Green councillors, leaving them with the five seats they had following the 2019 election. The Liberal Democrats lost to Labour in their one remaining ward, reducing them to one seat for the second time in the council's history.

Across the district, there was a substantial 9.7% swing to Labour compared to 2019; compared to 2022, the swing to Labour was a slightly smaller 8.5%.

Following the election a coalition of Labour, the Greens and the Liberal Democrat formed, with Labour group leader Tony Johnson being appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 24 May 2023.[6]

Summary

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Election result

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The overall results were:[7]

2023 Cannock Chase District Council election
Party This election Full council This election
Seats Net Seats % Other Total Total % Votes Votes % +/−
  Labour 9   5 60.0 8 17 41.5 9,269 44.9  6.9
  Conservative 4   3 26.7 14 18 43.9 6,626 32.1  10.0
  Green 4   3 26.7 1 5 12.2 3,352 16.2  10.1
  Liberal Democrats 0   1 0.0 1 1 2.4 434 2.1  0.6
  Independent 0   1 0.0 0 0 0.0 965 4.7  3.8

Council Composition

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Prior to the election, the composition of the council was:[8]

21 12 2 2 1 1 2
Conservative Labour LD Grn CI Ind Vac

After the election, the composition of the council was:

18 17 5 1
Conservative Labour Greens LD

Ward results

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Vote share changes are based on the results achieved by parties in 2019 when these seats were last contested.

Brereton and Ravenhill

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Brereton and Ravenhill
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Carl Boulton 672 47.6  10.1
Liberal Democrats Gerald Molineux 434 30.7  12.2
Conservative Melanie Frew 306 21.7  2.1
Majority 238 16.9 N/A
Turnout 1,412 27.0  0.4
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing  11.2

Cannock East

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Cannock East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tony Johnson 739 59.1  17.0
Labour Fred Prestwood 622 49.7  7.6
Conservative Gary Millward 408 32.6  8.6
Green Arlene Carmichael 142 11.4  2.4
Green Melody Donnallie 142 11.4  2.4
Turnout 1,255 23.5  2.6
Labour hold Swing
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

There were two seats up for election in this ward due to the resignation of Conservative councillor Johnny McMahon in March 2023.

Ward Summary
Party Votes % Votes ±% Seats Change
Labour 1,361 66.3  24.2 2  1
Conservative 408 19.9  4.1 0  1
Green 284 13.8  4.8 0

Cannock North

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Cannock North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paula Stanton 642 57.3  3.8
Conservative David Guy 268 23.9  0.4
Independent Paul Carnell 126 11.2 N/A
Green Richard Jenking 85 7.6  15.4
Majority 384 33.4  3.4
Turnout 1,121 21.1  1.2
Labour hold Swing  1.7

Cannock South

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Cannock South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jeff Hill 651 46.1  7.4
Conservative Paul Snape 537 38.1  6.1
Green Eloise Cropp 142 10.1  1.6
Independent David Hyden 81 5.7 N/A
Majority 114 8.0  1.3
Turnout 1,411 23.4  1.1
Labour hold Swing  0.7

Cannock West

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Cannock West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Val Jones 976 57.6  5.1
Labour Natalie Hill 537 31.7  10.9
Green Maire Smith 182 10.7  5.7
Majority 439 25.9  16.1
Turnout 1,695 30.3  0.7
Conservative hold Swing  8.0

Etching Hill and the Heath

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Etching Hill and the Heath
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mike Sutherland 675 52.2  7.8
Labour Daniel Foceac 470 36.3  18.0
Green Carl Harwatt 149 11.5  10.2
Majority 205 15.9  22.4
Turnout 1,294 25.6  1.1
Conservative hold Swing  12.9

Hagley

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Hagley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op David Williams 488 63.0  26.0
Conservative Julia Kenny 164 21.2  20.2
Independent Alan Dudson 72 9.3 N/A
Green Kenny Beardmore 51 6.6  15.0
Majority 324 41.8 N/A
Turnout 775 23.0  0.5
Labour Co-op gain from Conservative Swing  23.1

Hawks Green

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Hawks Green
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Adrienne Fitzgerald 618 50.7  7.0
Labour Dale Bilbie 456 37.4  20.6
Green David Green 146 12.0  1.9
Majority 162 13.3  13.6
Turnout 1,220 22.9  0.6
Conservative hold Swing  6.8

Heath Hayes East & Wimblebury

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Heath Hayes East & Wimblebury
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Julie Aston 547 47.2  17.0
Conservative Samantha Thompson 507 43.8  6.7
Green Stuart Kennedy 104 9.0  0.7
Majority 40 3.4 N/A
Turnout 1,158 24.5  0.4
Labour gain from Conservative Swing  5.2

Hednesford Green Heath

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Hednesford Green Heath
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mandy Dunnett ^ 598 53.8  20.9
Conservative Laura Harrison 408 36.7  2.6
Independent Ron Turville 106 9.5  3.1
Majority 190 17.1 N/A
Turnout 1,112 19.7  4.8
Labour gain from Conservative Swing  9.2

^ Mandy Dunnett was the sitting councillor for the Hednesford North ward. She switched to the Hednesford Green Heath ward after defecting to Labour.

Hednesford North

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Hednesford North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Darrell Mawle 464 38.5  3.2
Labour Paul Witton 416 34.5  3.2
Conservative Marie Taylor 219 18.2  8.8
Independent Arthur Roden 107 8.9 N/A
Majority 48 4.0  6.0
Turnout 1,299 24.7  0.3
Green hold Swing  3.2

Although this was a notional Green hold compared to 2019, in current seat terms it was a Green gain from Labour due to the previous defection of the sitting councillor, Mandy Dunnett, to Labour.

Hednesford South

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Hednesford South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Liz Bishop 464 39.0  21.7
Green Mandi Boyer 388 32.6  28.1
Conservative Phil Hewitt 353 29.7  2.0
Labour Bob Heighway 319 26.8  15.2
Labour Steve Thornley 293 24.6  13.4
Independent Andrea Beach ^ 197 16.6 N/A
Independent Chris Harborow 170 14.3 N/A
Turnout 1,193 28.0  1.8
Green hold Swing  3.2
Green gain from Chase Indies Swing

^ Andrea Beach was the sitting councillor for the Cannock North ward. She switched to the Hednesford South ward after defecting from Labour to the Chase Community Independent Group, and latterly sitting as an independent.

There were two seats up for election in this ward due to the resignation of Chase Community Independent Group leader Paul Woodhead in March 2023.

Although one of these seats was a notional Green hold compared to 2019, in current seat terms it was a Green gain from the Chase Community Independent Group due to the previous defection of the sitting councillor, Stuart Crabtree, from the Greens.

Ward Summary
Party Votes % Votes ±% Seats Change
Green 852 39.1  21.6 2  1
Labour 609 27.9  16.3 0
Independent 367 16.8 N/A 0
Conservative 353 16.2  11.5 0

Norton Canes

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Norton Canes
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Josh Newbury 1,069 66.9  21.9
Conservative Tim Clapham 357 22.4  9.3
Independent Sean Butler 106 6.6 N/A
Green Stuart Crabtree 65 4.1  1.3
Majority 712 44.5  31.2
Turnout 1,597 24.2  4.2
Labour Co-op hold Swing  15.6

Rawnsley

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Rawnsley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Andrea Muckley 715 69.8  14.0
Conservative Thomas Yaxley 174 17.0  9.4
Labour Les Bullock 135 13.2  0.1
Majority 541 52.8  23.4
Turnout 1,024 28.3  5.5
Green hold Swing  11.7

Western Springs

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Western Springs
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Pam Owen 656 47.4  6.9
Labour David Gaye 615 44.4  18.3
Green Warren Cocker 113 8.2  11.4
Majority 41 3.0  25.2
Turnout 1,384 26.9  0.2
Conservative hold Swing  12.6

Changes 2023–2024

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Paul Fisher, elected as a Liberal Democrat in 2022, left the party in August 2023, leaving the party with no councillors.[9] He subsequently joined Labour later in 2023.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Including one vacant seat held by Conservative councillor John McMahon prior to his resignation in March 2023.[1]
  2. ^ Including one vacant seat in Hednesford South ward previously held by Chase Community Independents Group councillor Paul Woodhead.[1] The party did not put up any candidates in 2023 and was de-registered with the Electoral Commission the month after this election.[2]
  1. ^ a b Boothroyd, David (24 March 2023). "Tory hold in a rush in Northants". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Chase Community Independents Group". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  3. ^ "District Election Results 2023". Cannock Chase District Council. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  4. ^ Lawson, Eleanor (25 May 2023). "Labour forms coalition with Greens and Lib Dems in Cannock Chase to run council". Express and Star. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Full Cannock Chase Council election results with no clear majority". Express & Star. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Council minutes, 24 May 2023" (PDF). 27 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Cannock Chase election result". BBC News. May 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Your Councillors". Cannock Chase District Council. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  9. ^ Boothroyd, David (18 August 2023). "Boro not as red as it seems". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Your District Councillors" (PDF). Cannock Chase District Council. December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.