2023 Rugby Borough Council election

2023 Rugby Borough Council election

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
14 out of 42 seats to Rugby Borough Council 22 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Seb Lowe Maggie O'Rourke Jerry Roodhouse Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats Last election 23 seats, 37.9% 10 seats, 34.0% 9 seats, 22.2% Seats won 6 5 3 Seats after 21 12 9 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 9,260 8,916 5,552 Percentage 36.1% 34.8% 21.6% Swing 1.8% 0.8% 0.6%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Rugby Borough Council election
Leader before election Seb Lowe Conservative Leader after election Derek Poole Conservative No overall control

The 2023 Rugby Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect 14 members (one-third) of Rugby Borough Council in Warwickshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

Summary

The council was under Conservative majority control prior to the election. Following the results, the Conservatives remained the largest party, but lost their majority, leaving the council under no overall control. One of the Conservatives to lose his seat was the leader of the council, Seb Lowe. The Conservatives managed to form a minority administration after the election, and appointed Derek Poole as their new leader. He was confirmed as the new leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 18 May 2023. The Labour group also changed their leader after the election; former leader Maggie O'Rourke was appointed mayor, and Michael Moran became the new Labour leader.

2023 Rugby Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	6	2	42.9	15	21	50.0	9,260	36.1	–1.8
	Labour	5	2	35.7	7	12	28.6	8,916	34.8	+0.8
	Liberal Democrats	3		21.4	6	9	21.4	5,552	21.6	–0.6
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,768	6.9	+1.1
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	156	0.6	N/A

Ward results

The results for each ward were as follows:

Admirals & Cawston

Admirals & Cawston

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Verity Robinson	1,067	45.3	–6.2
	Conservative	Dean Richards	977	41.5	+7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Lee Chase	186	7.9	–0.7
	Green	Jenny Farley	124	5.3	–0.3
Majority			90	3.8	–13.4
Turnout			2,354	34.0	–0.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	6.7

Benn

Benn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rob Barnett	914	62.8	±0.0
	Conservative	Dapo Awotunde	280	19.2	–1.2
	Green	Angie Dunne	151	10.4	–6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Trisha Trimble	111	7.6	N/A
Majority			634	43.6	+1.2
Turnout			1,456	24.8	–1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	0.6

Bilton

Bilton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lisa Parker	787	36.3	–5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Pimm	712	32.8	+1.1
	Labour	Colin Mander	555	25.6	+5.2
	Green	Benjamin Gladwin	115	5.3	–1.1
Majority			75	3.5	–6.3
Turnout			2,169	43.0	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.2

Coton & Boughton

Coton & Boughton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Senthil Periasamy	909	45.1	+3.1
	Conservative	Seb Lowe	813	40.3	–0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Blackburn	127	6.3	–2.3
	Green	Roy Sandison	103	5.1	–2.0
	Reform UK	Jamie Pullin	64	3.2	N/A
Majority			96	4.8	+3.3
Turnout			2,016	35.3	+2.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	1.7

Dunsmore

Dunsmore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Keeling	1,089	44.8	–4.8
	Labour	Ann Coomber	638	26.2	+8.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Bennett	494	20.3	–12.0
	Green	Helen Ford	212	8.7	N/A
Majority			451	18.6	+1.2
Turnout			2,433	35.9	–2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.4

Eastlands

Eastlands

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Sandison	894	49.3	–0.1
	Labour	George Bates	461	25.4	+2.0
	Conservative	Heidi Thomas	347	19.1	–1.4
	Green	Mark Patrick	113	6.2	–0.5
Majority			433	23.9	–2.1
Turnout			1,815	31.9	–3.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	1.0

Hillmorton

Hillmorton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Luke Russell	909	44.4	–1.2
	Labour	Jenny Offordile	866	42.3	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Julie Douglas	168	8.2	–6.9
	Green	Becca Stevenson	105	5.1	N/A
Majority			43	2.1	–4.2
Turnout			2,048	32.9	–1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.1

Leam Valley

Leam Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dale Keeling	477	57.5	–23.7
	Labour	Mark Gore	171	20.6	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Victoria Saxby-Edwards	94	11.3	N/A
	Green	Chris Mawby	88	10.6	N/A
Majority			306	36.9	–25.5
Turnout			830	42.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	12.8

New Bilton

New Bilton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Brown	717	59.4	+0.5
	Conservative	Christopher Johnson	298	24.7	–3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Sandison	109	9.0	N/A
	Green	Maralyn Pickup	84	7.0	–6.4
Majority			419	34.7	+3.5
Turnout			1,208	22.8	–2.9
	Labour hold		Swing	1.8

Newbold & Brownsover

Newbold & Brownsover

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nooria Sayani	777	51.3	–3.8
	Conservative	Ginny Gould	498	32.9	+0.9
	Green	Mark Summers	132	8.7	–3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Trimble	108	7.1	N/A
Majority			279	18.4	–4.2
Turnout			1,515	24.7	–1.8
	Labour hold		Swing	2.4

Paddox

Paddox

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jerry Roodhouse	1,197	59.1	+3.0
	Labour	Chris Mawby	363	17.9	+0.1
	Conservative	Bella Leathley	360	17.8	–3.0
	Green	Bob Beggs	107	5.3	+0.1
Majority			834	41.2	+5.9
Turnout			2,027	37.0	–1.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	1.5

Revel & Binley Woods

Revel & Binley Woods

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Heather Timms	1,126	61.4	–2.7
	Labour	Sarah Feeney	502	27.4	–8.5
	Green	Stephen Ward	119	6.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	James Moran	87	4.7	N/A
Majority			624	34.0	+5.6
Turnout			1,834	36.0	–1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.9

Rokeby & Overslade

Rokeby & Overslade

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Isabelle McKenzie	1,180	57.6	–8.1
	Conservative	Louise Adkins	397	19.4	±0.0
	Labour	Chris Lee	356	17.4	+2.5
	Green	Kate Crowley	115	5.6	N/A
Majority			783	38.2	–8.1
Turnout			2,048	35.4	–1.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	4.1

Wolston & The Lawfords

Wolston & The Lawfords

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derek Poole	902	47.6	–6.3
	Labour	Kieren Brown	616	32.5	+3.6
	Green	Lesley Summers	200	10.6	–1.7
	Reform UK	John Birch	92	4.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Hossain Tafazzal	85	4.5	–0.3
Majority			286	15.1	–9.9
Turnout			1,895	31.6	–1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.0

Changes 2023–2024

Dunsmore by-election, 14 December 2023 (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Carl Bennett	613	37.5	+17.2
	Conservative	Jill Beverley Simpson-Vince	588	36.0	−8.8
	Conservative	Salome Hlupi Eric	557	34.1	−10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Trisha Trimble	548	33.5	+13.2
	Labour	Stephen Dyke	299	18.3	−7.9
	Labour	Jenny Offordile	256	15.7	−10.5
	Green	Helen Rebecca Ford	145	8.9	+0.2
	Green	Mark Andrew Summers	89	5.4	−3.3
Turnout			1,634	23.7
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

The double by-election in Dunsmore ward was triggered by the resignations of Conservative councillors Howard Roberts and Deepah Roberts.