Wikipedia

2023 Malvern Hills District Council election

The 2023 Malvern Hills District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Malvern Hills District Council in Worcestershire, England.[5][6] This was on the same day as other local elections in England.

2023 Malvern Hills District Council election
← 2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 31 seats to Malvern Hills District Council
16 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Tom Wells Jeremy Owenson[1] Jules Wood[2]
Party Independent Conservative Green
Last election 10 seats, 22.2% 13 seats, 28.9% 5 seats, 11.0%
Seats before 13 12 5
Seats won 11 7 7
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 6 Increase 2
Popular vote 10,470 11,538 7,394
Percentage 25.7% 28.3% 18.2%
Swing Increase 3.5% Decrease 0.6% Increase 7.2%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Kaleem Aksar[3] Sarah Rouse[4]
Party Liberal Democrats MH Independents Labour
Last election 9 seats, 27.6% N/A 1 seat, 6.9%
Seats before 4 3 1
Seats won 3 3 0
Seat change Decrease 6 Increase 3 Decrease 1
Popular vote 6,635 2,759 1,717
Percentage 16.3% 6.8% 4.2%
Swing Decrease 11.3% N/A Decrease 2.7%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Malvern Hills District Council election
Leader before election

Tom Wells
Independent
No overall control

Leader after election

Tom Wells
Independent
No overall control

New ward boundaries came into effect for this election, reducing the number of seats on the council from 38 to 31.[7]

Summary

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Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, being led by a coalition of the independents and Greens, led by independent councillor Tom Wells. The Liberal Democrats had also been part of the ruling coalition following the 2019 election, but withdrew from it in 2020.[3] There had also been a split amongst the independent councillors in 2022 which led to the formation of a new group called the Malvern Hills Independents, which subsequently registered itself as a political party with the Electoral Commission.[8][4]

Following the election the council remained under no overall control. The independents and Greens both increased their numbers of seats, largely at the expense of the Conservatives, and the independent and Green coalition continued to run the council.[9]

The Liberal Democrat group leader prior to the election, Kaleem Aksar, did not stand for re-election. They chose Paul Bennett as their new group leader after the election.[10]

Election result

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2023 Malvern Hills District Council election
Party Candidates Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Independent 17 11 2 0   6 35.5 25.7 10,470 +3.5
  Conservative 26 7 0 1   8 22.6 28.3 11,538 –0.6
  Green 12 7 1 0   2 22.6 18.2 7,394 +7.2
  Liberal Democrats 21 3 0 2   6 9.7 16.3 6,635 –11.3
  Malvern Hills Independents 4 3 9.7 6.8 2,759 N/A
  Labour 6 0 0 0   1 0.0 4.2 1,717 –2.7
  Reform UK 2 0 0 0   0.0 0.5 202 N/A

Ward results

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The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Malvern Hills District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.[11] The results for each ward were as follows, with an asterisk (*) indicating an incumbent councillor standing for re-election.[12][13]

Alfrick, Leigh & Rushwick

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Alfrick, Leigh & Rushwick (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes %
MH Independents Sarah Rouse* 1,030 71.0
MH Independents Peter Whatley* 992 68.4
Conservative Paul Selway-Swift 300 20.7
Liberal Democrats Linda Hardwick 239 16.5
Turnout 1,451 37.2
Registered electors 3,902
MH Independents win (new seat)
MH Independents win (new seat)

Baldwin

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Baldwin (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Pamela Cumming* 905 62.6 –15.0
Conservative Paul Cumming* 902 62.4 N/A
Liberal Democrats Jamie Cramp 436 30.2 +7.8
Green Seyi Latunde-Dada 382 26.4 N/A
Turnout 1,445 37.7
Registered electors 3,833
Conservative hold
Conservative win (new seat)

Barnards Green

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Barnards Green (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes %
Green Mark Driscoll 786 36.5
Green Malcolm Victory 772 35.9
Liberal Democrats David Mead 755 35.1
Liberal Democrats Clive Fletcher 596 27.7
Liberal Democrats Pete Benkwitz 521 24.2
Conservative Ian Hopwood 463 21.5
Conservative Julie Maclusky 423 19.7
Independent Adrian Vines 376 17.5
Labour Louise Lowton 369 17.2
Labour Iain Dawson 307 14.3
Independent Nick Houghton 296 13.8
Turnout 2,151 33.2
Registered electors 6,488
Green win (new seat)
Green win (new seat)
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Broadheath

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Broadheath
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Daniel Walton* 511 76.8 +25.5
Conservative Carl Fordington 131 19.7 –10.7
Liberal Democrats Chris Sandys 23 3.5 –14.8
Majority 380 57.1 N/A
Turnout 666 42.3
Registered electors 1,539
Independent hold

Castlemorton, Welland & Wells

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Castlemorton, Welland & Wells (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent John Gallagher* 864 48.1
Independent Christine Wild 727 40.4
Conservative Jill Campbell 587 32.6
Liberal Democrats Eva Fielding 550 30.6
Conservative Marc Bayliss 489 27.2
Turnout 1,798 42.5
Registered electors 4,230
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)

Great Malvern

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Great Malvern (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Beverley Nielsen* 798 50.4
Independent Cynthia Palmer* 726 45.8
Conservative Hannah Campbell 491 31.0
Liberal Democrats Jed Marson 458 28.9
Conservative James Jarvis 425 26.8
Turnout 1,584 40.5
Registered electors 3,915
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)

Hallow & Holt

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Hallow & Holt
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Dean Clarke* 495 59.4
Conservative Mel Fordington 264 31.7
Liberal Democrats Elaine Drage 74 8.9
Majority 231 27.7
Turnout 836 37.6
Registered electors 2,221
Independent win (new seat)

Kempsey

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Kempsey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent David Harrison* 917 67.3 –15.9
Independent John Michael* 665 48.8 –30.9
Conservative Ian Daly 548 40.2 +28.6
Liberal Democrats John Drage 218 16.0 +7.9
Turnout 1,362 34.5
Registered electors 3,946
Independent hold
Independent hold

Lindridge

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Lindridge
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Douglas Godwin* 479 64.9 –3.6
Green Mary-Louise Thompson 159 21.5 N/A
Liberal Democrats John O'Loghlen 100 13.6 –17.9
Majority 320 43.4
Turnout 745 35.4
Registered electors 2,103
Conservative hold
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Link (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Kwai Chan* 589 28.7 N/A
Liberal Democrats Neville Mills* 568 27.7 –10.2
Green Fran Victory 563 27.5 N/A
Liberal Democrats Danielle Bennett 527 25.7 –19.0
Conservative David Watkins 504 24.6 –1.5
Liberal Democrats Clifford Hobbs 467 22.8 –14.2
Conservative Karen Hanks 442 21.6 –3.7
Labour Susan Dalley 437 21.3 +3.1
Labour Christopher Burrows 429 20.9 +4.1
Independent Clive Hooper 305 14.9 N/A
Independent Anne Robinson 285 13.9 N/A
Reform UK Richard Case 141 6.9 N/A
Turnout 2,050 36.0
Registered electors 5,701
Independent gain from Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats hold
Green gain from Liberal Democrats

Longdon

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Longdon
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jennie Watkins 461 60.3 –1.8
Green Tim Kershaw 161 21.0 N/A
Liberal Democrats Liz Smith 143 18.7 –19.2
Majority 300 39.3
Turnout 767 39.6
Registered electors 1,938
Conservative hold

Martley

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Martley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Barbara Jones-Williams* 504 58.7 –13.6
Liberal Democrats John Bateman 197 22.9 N/A
Independent George Wilesmith 105 12.2 N/A
MH Independents Matthew Oliver 53 6.2 N/A
Majority 307 35.8
Turnout 864 37.1
Registered electors 2,327
Conservative hold

Pickesleigh

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Pickersleigh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Paul Bennett* 212 45.5 –5.8
Conservative David Chambers 104 22.3 –2.1
Labour Owen Walters 84 18.0 –6.3
Independent Caroline Bovey* 66 14.2 N/A
Majority 108 23.2
Turnout 470 23.4
Registered electors 2,011
Liberal Democrats hold Swing  1.9

Powick & the Hanleys

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Powick & the Hanleys (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Tom Wells* 1,461 78.9
Independent Kathy Wells* 1,283 69.3
Conservative Sebastian Barbour 365 19.7
Conservative Oliver Watkins 250 13.5
Liberal Democrats Rachel Aksar 158 8.5
Turnout 1,851 43.0
Registered electors 4,303
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)

Tenbury

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Tenbury (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
MH Independents Lesley Brunton* 684 57.1 N/A
Conservative John Willmott 605 50.5 N/A
Conservative Paul Owen 367 30.6 N/A
Green Peter Jones 331 27.6 N/A
Turnout 1,198 33.0 N/A
Registered electors 3,626
MH Independents gain from Conservative
Conservative hold

Upper Howsell

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Upper Howsell
Party Candidate Votes %
Green Jules Wood* 335 54.8
Conservative Surbjit Brierley 146 23.9
Labour Jan Blazak 91 14.9
Liberal Democrats Will Chaundy 39 6.4
Majority 189 30.9
Turnout 615 28.3
Registered electors 2,176
Green win (new seat)

Upton & Ripple

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Upton & Ripple (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes %
Green Martin Allen* 1,172 71.4
Conservative Jeremy Owenson 608 37.1
Conservative Andrew Waddell 463 28.2
Green Rebecca Rollinson 459 28.0
Liberal Democrats Liz Mills 143 8.7
Reform UK Doug Guest 61 3.7
Turnout 1,641 42.0
Registered electors 3,912
Green win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)

West

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West (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Natalie McVey* 1,152 74.3 +2.3
Green John Raine* 1,122 72.3 –4.5
Conservative Jennie Kelly 312 20.1 +0.8
Liberal Democrats Richard Whitehead 211 13.6 –1.0
Turnout 1,551 37.6
Registered electors 4,128
Green hold
Green hold

References

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  1. ^ Banner, Tom (19 May 2020). "Malvern Hills Conservative councillors choose new leader and vow to 'rebuild' town". Malvern Gazette. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  2. ^ Wilkinson-Jones, Phil (5 May 2023). "Greens narrowly defeat Conservatives in Malvern by-election". Worcester News. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  3. ^ a b Barnett, Christian (9 July 2020). "Four councillors in Malvern quit Lib Dems over new leader's decision to leave administration". Worcester News. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Malvern Hills Independents". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Notice of Election" (PDF). Malvern Hills District Council. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Malvern Hills result - Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  7. ^ "The Malvern Hills (Electoral Changes) Order 2023", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2023/23, retrieved 11 February 2024
  8. ^ Banner, Tom (19 April 2022). "Malvern Hills District Council leadership chaos worsens". Malvern Gazette. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  9. ^ Wilkinson-Jones, Phil (25 May 2023). "Greens and independents in charge of Malvern Hills District Council". Malvern Gazette. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  10. ^ "College row hits 'crisis point' in wake of High Court ruling". Malvern Observer. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Malvern Hills District Council. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Election of councillors for the wards of Malvern Hills District Council: Summary of results" (PDF). Malvern Hills District Council. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Your Councillors". Malvern Hills District Council. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
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