2023 Wokingham Borough Council election

2023 Wokingham Borough Council election
18 out of 54 seats to Wokingham Borough Council; 28 seats needed for a majority
	Ward results map for Wokingham Borough Council
Leader before election; Clive Jones; Liberal Democrat; No overall control	Leader after election ; Stephen Conway; Liberal Democrat; No overall control

The 2023 Wokingham Borough Council election took place on Thursday 4 May 2023, to elect members of Wokingham Borough Council in Berkshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England. One third of the council, 18 seats, was up for election.

Prior to the election the council was under no overall control. The Conservatives were the largest party but had lost control following the 2022 election to the "Wokingham Partnership" – a group comprising the Liberal Democrats, Labour and two independent councillors, led by Liberal Democrat leader, Clive Jones. At the 2023 election, the council remained under no overall control, but the Liberal Democrats overtook the Conservatives to become the largest party.^[1] At the subsequent annual council meeting on 18 May 2023, Clive Jones stood down as leader of the council, being replaced by new Liberal Democrat leader Stephen Conway.^[2]^[3]

The composition of the council before the election was as follows:

↓
23	3	2	26
LD	LAB	IND	CON

After the election, the composition of the council became:

↓
26	5	1	22
LD	LAB	IND	CON

^[4] ^[5]

Election Summary

2023 Wokingham Borough Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	17	26	3	0	3	48.1	41.3	18,104	1.3
	Conservative	18	22	0	4	4	40.7	36.6	16,058	-0.3
	Labour	18	5	2	0	2	9.2	16.3	7,166	-1.6
	Green	8	0	0	0	0	0	2.9	1,268	-0.2
	Independent	3	1	0	1	1	0	1.7	727	0.5
	Women's Equality	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.4	179	0.4
	Heritage	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	84	0.2

There were a total of 43,802 votes cast with a total of 216 spoiled ballots.

Ward results

Sitting councillors are marked with an asterisk (*).

Barkham

Barkham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Pittock	705	46.7	+4.3
	Conservative	George Evans	581	38.5	−11.1
	Labour	Annette Medhurst	107	7.1	−0.9
	Independent	Roderick Stephens	76	5.0	+5.0
	Green	Asad Feroz	40	2.7	+2.7
Majority			124	8.2	+1.0
Total valid votes			1509	99.5
Rejected ballots			7	0.5
Turnout			1516	40.6	+7.6
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.7

Bulmershe & Whitegates

Bulmershe & Whitegates
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Skuse	1,058	40.3	−10.8
	Conservative	Sagar Patel	958	36.5	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Jordan	375	14.3	+6.4
	Green	Samuel Langlois	235	8.9	+3.4
Majority			100	3.8	−11.9
Total valid votes			2626	99.4
Rejected ballots			15	0.6
Turnout			2641	38.2	−4.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.9

Coronation

Coronation
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alison Swaddle*	1,120	61.5	−1.4
	Liberal Democrats	Paddy Power	359	19.7	+2.4
	Labour	Ian Hills	190	10.4	−2.1
	Green	Emma Hamilton	152	8.3	+0.1
Majority			761	41.8	−2.8
Total valid votes			1821	99.6
Rejected ballots			7	0.4
Turnout			1828	43.65	−1.83
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.9

Emmbrook

Emmbrook
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Rachel Bishop-Firth*	1,865	57.1	−3.3
	Conservative	James Pett	888	27.2	−2.2
	Labour	Alwyn Jones	255	7.8	+1.8
	Green	Lauren Seymour	156	4.8	+0.6
	Heritage	Stephen Priest	84	2.6	+2.6
Majority			977	29.93	−0.7
Total valid votes			3248	99.5
Rejected ballots			16	0.5
Turnout			3264	42.69%	+0.13
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-0.5

Evendons

Evendons
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Mather*	1,579	53.2	−11.2
	Conservative	Martin Jeater	910	30.6	+3.6
	Labour	Timothy Lloyd	279	9.3	+3.8
	Women's Equality	Louise Timlin	179	6.0	+6.0
Majority			669	22.5	−14.8
Total valid votes			2947	99.2
Rejected ballots			23	0.8
Turnout			2970	42.23%	+0.13
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-7.4

Hawkedon

Hawkedon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Mickleburgh*	1,269	49.8	−12.8
	Conservative	Vishal Srinivasan	962	37.8	+13.6
	Labour	Mark Craske	307	12.0	−1.9
Majority			307	12.0	−5.1
Total valid votes			2538	99.7
Rejected ballots			8	0.3
Turnout			2546	37.81%	+2.68
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-13.2

Hillside

Hillside
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Smith*	1,346	44.6	−9.5
	Conservative	Moses Iyengunmwena	1,319	43.7	+7.3
	Labour	Evan Ainsworth	347	11.5	+0.9
Majority			27	0.9	−13.2
Total valid votes			3012	99.7
Rejected ballots			8	0.3
Turnout			3020	37.81%	−9.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-8.4

Loddon

Loddon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Abdul Loyes*	1,136	41.5	+1.8
	Labour	Majid Nagra	1,091	39.8	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Alexander Heap	480	17.5	−10.1
Majority			45	1.64	−3.36
Total valid votes			2707	99.0
Rejected ballots			28	1.0
Turnout			2735	36.27%	+3.46
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.6

Maiden Erlegh

Maiden Erlegh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Newton	1,318	45.0	−5.8
	Conservative	Tim Holton	1,191	40.7	+9.6
	Labour	Nagi Nagella	396	13.5	−4.6
Majority			127	4.3	−15.5
Total valid votes			2905	99.2
Rejected ballots			22	0.8
Turnout			2927	43.78%	−0.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-7.7

Norreys

Norreys
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Marie-Louise Weighill	1,349	42.4	−11.3
	Conservative	Mike Townend	1,169	36.8	+2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Matteo Fumagalli	639	20.0	+11.1
Majority			180	5.7	−13.8
Total valid votes			3157	99.3
Rejected ballots			23	0.7
Turnout			3180	37.74%	−4.48%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	-6.9

Shinfield North

Shinfield North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Gray	366	46.4	+7.4
	Conservative	Parry Batth*	308	39.0	−2.8
	Independent	Tony Johnson	69	8.8	+8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Dominic Rider	45	5.7	−13.5
Majority			58	7.4	+4.6
Total valid votes			788	100%
Rejected ballots			0	0%
Turnout			788	32.56%	+2.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.1

Shinfield South

Shinfield South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Catherine Glover	1,047	32.9	−12.3
	Conservative	Dave Edmonds	1,012	31.8	−9.0
	Independent	Jim Frewin*	582	18.3	+18.3
	Labour	Sarah Bell	399	12.5	−1.5
	Green	Thomas Blomley	132	4.1	+4.1
Majority			35	1.1	−3.4
Total valid votes			3172	99.7
Rejected ballots			11	0.3
Turnout			3183	34.09%	−0.9
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing	-15.3

Sonning

Sonning
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Firmager*	656	59.7	+0.9
	Green	Merv Boniface	257	23.4	+4.4
	Labour	Philipa Hills	181	16.5	+6.1
Majority			399	36.3	−3.5
Total valid votes			1094	99.6
Rejected ballots			4	0.4
Turnout			1098	43.03%	−3.03
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.7

South Lake

South Lake
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Laura Blumenthal*	999	51.4	+10.6
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Jewel	715	36.8	−11.5
	Labour	Ann Dally	217	11.2	0.2
Majority			284	14.6	+7.1
Total valid votes			1931	99.4
Rejected ballots			12	0.6
Turnout			1943	45.73%	0.27
	Conservative hold		Swing	+11.0

Twyford

Twyford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Conway*	1,979	84.1	+13.5
	Conservative	Grant Woolner	273	11.6	−12.0
	Labour	Caroline Hill	93	4.0	−0.9
Majority			1706	72.6	+25.7
Total valid votes			2345	99.7
Rejected ballots			6	0.3
Turnout			2351	51.77%	−2.23
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+12.7

Wescott

Wescott
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Ainslie	1,172	53.6	+9.4
	Conservative	David Lee	700	32.0	−10.4
	Labour	Alex Freeney	160	7.3	−4.8
	Green	Dave Chapman	150	6.9	+6.9
Majority			472	21.6	+19.9
Total valid votes			2182	99.7
Rejected ballots			6	0.3
Turnout			2188	39.65%	−3.35
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+9.9

Winnersh

Winnersh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Fishwick*	1,643	60.6	−3.2
	Conservative	Anthony Pollock	682	25.1	+0.2
	Labour	Alan Murungi	231	8.5	+1.4
	Green	Stephen Lloyd	146	5.4	+1.2
Majority			961	35.4	−3.5
Total valid votes			2702	99.6
Rejected ballots			10	0.4
Turnout			2712	34.74%	+0.39
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-1.7

Wokingham Without

Wokingham Without
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jordan Montgomery	1,568	53.8	+12.9
	Conservative	Christopher Bowring*	1,194	41.0	−7.0
	Labour	Rona Noble	140	4.8	−2.5
Majority			374	12.8	+6.6
Total valid votes			2902	99.7
Rejected ballots			10	0.3
Turnout			2912	46.11%	+11.76
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.9

Council Membership by party after each election 2010–2023

Election results 2010–2023
Party		2010	2011	2012	2014	2015	2016	2018	2019	2021	2022	2023
	Conservative	43	45	43	44	47	47	42	31	31	26	22
	Liberal Democrats	11	9	10	7	5	5	8	16	18	23	26
	Labour	0	0	0	1	1	1	3	4	3	3	5
	Other parties	0	0	1	2	1	1	1	3	2	2	1
Total Seats		54	54	54	54	54	54	54	54	54	54	54

References

^ Fox, Thomas (5 May 2023). "Wokingham local election results 2023: Lib Dems now biggest party but fall short of majority". Berkshire Live. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
^ "Council minutes, 18 May 2023". Wokingham Borough Council. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
^ Creighton, Phil (22 May 2023). "New leader announces his decision-making executive team for Wokingham Borough Council". Wokingham TodayWokingham Today. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
^ "Borough Council Election Statement of Person's Nominated 2023". Wokingham Borough Council. 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
^ "Borough Council Election Results 2023". Wokingham Borough Council. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.

[1] Fox, Thomas (5 May 2023). "Wokingham local election results 2023: Lib Dems now biggest party but fall short of majority". Berkshire Live. Retrieved 31 May 2023.

[2] "Council minutes, 18 May 2023". Wokingham Borough Council. Retrieved 31 May 2023.

[3] Creighton, Phil (22 May 2023). "New leader announces his decision-making executive team for Wokingham Borough Council". Wokingham TodayWokingham Today. Retrieved 31 May 2023.

[Wokingham_Borough_Council-4] "Borough Council Election Statement of Person's Nominated 2023". Wokingham Borough Council. 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.

[Wokingham_Borough_Council_Results-5] "Borough Council Election Results 2023". Wokingham Borough Council. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.

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