2023 West Suffolk District Council election

2023 West Suffolk District Council election
All 64 seats to West Suffolk District Council; 33 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	30.4%
	Winner of each seat at the 2023 West Suffolk District Council election
Leader before election; John Griffiths; Conservative	Leader after election ; Cliff Waterman; Labour; No overall control

The 2023 West Suffolk District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of West Suffolk District Council in Suffolk, England.^[2] This was on the same day as other local elections in England.

Summary

The council had been under Conservative majority control prior to the election. After the election the Conservatives remained the largest group, but lost their majority. A coalition of Labour, the West Suffolk Independents, Liberal Democrats, Greens and independent councillors formed after the election, with Labour councillor Cliff Waterman being appointed the new leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 23 May 2023.^[3]^[4]

Election result

2023 West Suffolk District Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	58	26	2	12	10	40.6	44.1	23,997	–4.1
	Labour	41	17	12	0	12	26.6	30.4	16,523	+12.1
	Independent	19	10	3	8	5	15.6	9.3	5,082	–10.4
	West Suffolk Independents	12	9	3	1	2	14.1	7.9	4,307	+1.8
	Green	6	1	0	0		1.6	4.2	2,266	+2.1
	Liberal Democrats	6	1	1	0	1	1.6	3.0	1,649	–0.1
	Reform UK	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.9	470	N/A
	Communist	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	74	N/A

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by West Suffolk District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.^[5] The results for each ward were as follows, with an asterisk (*) indicating an incumbent councillor standing for re-election:^[6]^[7]

Abbeygate

Abbeygate (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Julia Wakelam*	796	54.7	+9.1
	Conservative	Jo Rayner*	575	39.5	+1.5
	Labour	Nicola Iannelli-Popham	515	35.4	+7.5
	Labour	Anabelle Mackenzie	433	29.8	N/A
	Communist	Darren Turner	74	5.1	N/A
Turnout			1,455	40.0	+3.0
Registered electors			3,635
	Green hold
	Conservative hold

Bardwell

Bardwell
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Andrew Smith*	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Conservative hold

Barningham

Barningham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Carol Bull*	529	66.7	*N/A*
	Labour	Alexander Callum	264	33.3	N/A
Majority			265	33.4	N/A
Turnout			804	37.6	N/A
Registered electors			2,139
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Barrow

Barrow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Houlder*	350	47.9	*N/A*
	Labour	Theo Williams	192	26.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Zigurds Kronbergs	189	25.9	N/A
Majority			158	21.6	N/A
Turnout			736	36.2	N/A
Registered electors			2,036
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Brandon Central

Brandon Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	WSI	Jools Savage	290	58.9	+0.6
	Conservative	Tony Simmons	202	41.1	+22.9
Majority			88	17.8	–22.3
Turnout			499	22.6	–0.1
Registered electors			2,208
	WSI hold		Swing	11.2

Brandon East

Brandon East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	WSI	Phil Wittam*	275	48.5	+17.2
	Conservative	Christine Mason	154	27.2	–3.0
	Independent	Susan Smith	138	24.3	N/A
Majority			121	21.3	+20.2
Turnout			570	26.1	–0.3
Registered electors			2,181
	WSI hold		Swing	10.1

Brandon West

Brandon West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	WSI	Victor Lukaniuk*	310	57.2	+10.5
	Conservative	David Palmer*	232	42.8	+20.4
Majority			78	14.4	–1.4
Turnout			551	24.7	–1.4
Registered electors			2,227
	WSI hold		Swing	5.0

Chedburgh & Chevington

Chedburgh & Chevington
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Mike Chester*	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Conservative hold

Clare, Hundon & Kedington

Clare, Hundon & Kedington (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nick Clarke	1,381	71.6	*N/A*
	Conservative	Karen Richardson*	1,226	63.6	+20.3
	Conservative	Marion Rushbrook*	1,226	63.6	+15.4
	Reform UK	Robin Turbefield	354	18.4	N/A
Turnout			1,928	31.7	–6.7
Registered electors			6,087
	Conservative gain from Independent
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Eastgate

Eastgate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Cliff Waterman*	415	63.8	+30.2
	Conservative	Zachary Bastiani	235	36.2	+3.0
Majority			180	27.6	+27.2
Turnout			663	38.4	+0.4
Registered electors			1,729
	Labour hold		Swing	13.6

Exning

Exning
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jon London	413	64.9	*N/A*
	Conservative	Terry Wood	223	35.1	N/A
Majority			190	29.8	N/A
Turnout			639	37.1	N/A
Registered electors			1,723
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Haverhill Central

Haverhill Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Aaron Luccarini*	229	38.2	–2.1
	Labour	Mary Martin	221	36.9	+10.1
	Conservative	Heike Sowa	149	24.9	–8.0
Majority			8	1.3	–6.1
Turnout			603	25.1	–0.8
Registered electors			2,401
	Independent hold		Swing	6.1

Haverhill East

Haverhill East (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pat Hanlon*	303	53.5	+16.1
	Labour	Lora Miller-Jones	279	49.3	+19.2
	Independent	John Burns*	222	39.2	–1.5
	Conservative	Abbey Khawaja	160	28.3	–6.0
Turnout			566	19.8	–2.3
Registered electors			2,863
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Independent

Haverhill North

Haverhill North (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Paul Firman	462	47.8	*N/A*
	Conservative	Joe Mason*	422	43.6	+2.4
	Labour	Quinn Cox	412	42.6	+18.2
	Conservative	Lisa Mason	362	37.4	–7.2
Turnout			967	26.7	–2.6
Registered electors			3,621
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Haverhill South

Haverhill South (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Smith*	383	53.0	+19.3
	Labour	Liz Smith	353	48.8	+16.0
	Independent	Jason Crooks*	352	48.7	+10.6
Turnout			723	16.9	–1.9
Registered electors			4,276
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Independent

Haverhill South East

Haverhill South East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tony Brown*	363	72.0	+16.0
	Labour	Roger Andre	141	28.0	+11.8
Majority			222	44.0
Turnout			517	28.5
Registered electors			1,815
	Independent hold		Swing	2.1

Haverhill West

Haverhill West (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Martin	455	41.6	+4.7
	Conservative	Margaret Marks*	421	38.5	–6.8
	Labour	Damian Page	413	37.8	+6.7
	Conservative	David Roach*	358	32.8	–9.8
	Independent	Bruce Davidson	335	30.6	N/A
Turnout			1,093	25.7
Registered electors			4,249
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Horringer

Horringer
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Karen Soons	418	49.8	–19.1
	Green	Mark Ereira-Guyer	249	29.7	N/A
	Labour	Quentin Cornish	172	20.5	–10.6
Majority			169	20.1
Turnout			843	40.7
Registered electors			2,074
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Iceni

Iceni (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	WSI	Dawn Dicker*	354	47.5	+0.8
	Conservative	Andy Drummond	240	32.2	+3.7
	Green	Simon Morse	231	31.0	+8.6
	Labour	Keith Holland	227	30.4	+17.4
	WSI	Lee Anderson	201	26.9	–5.5
Turnout			746	19.1
Registered electors			3,917
	WSI hold
	Conservative gain from WSI

Ixworth

Ixworth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Griffiths*	242	39.2	*N/A*
	Independent	Ben Lord	211	34.1	N/A
	Labour	Helen Vicat	165	26.7	N/A
Majority			31	5.1	N/A
Turnout			622	36.4	N/A
Registered electors			1,710
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Kentford & Moulton

Kentford & Moulton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	WSI	Roger Dicker*	517	57.4	–0.7
	Conservative	Bobby Bennett	216	31.1	+3.3
	Labour	Hilary Appleton	167	11.6	–2.5
Majority			301	26.3
Turnout			906	39.9
Registered electors			2,269
	WSI hold		Swing	2.0

Lakenheath

Lakenheath (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Gerald Kelly	660	55.5	*N/A*
	Independent	Tracy Whitehand	606	50.9	*N/A*
	Conservative	Stephen Frost*	453	38.1	–7.7
	Conservative	Colin Noble	379	31.8	–5.6
Turnout			1,190	29.5
Registered electors			4,034
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Independent hold

Manor

Manor
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	WSI	Dave Taylor	355	50.9	*N/A*
	Conservative	Brian Harvey*	342	49.1	N/A
Majority			13	1.8	N/A
Turnout			706	34.4	N/A
Registered electors			2,050
	WSI gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Mildenhall Great Heath

Mildenhall Great Heath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Richard Alecock*	362	68.4	+2.1
	Conservative	Russell Leaman	79	31.6	–2.1
Majority			283	36.8
Turnout			444	21.8
Registered electors			2,037
	Independent hold		Swing	10.6

Mildenhall Kingsway & Market

Mildenhall Kingsway & Market
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ian Shipp*	382	61.0	–1.3
	Conservative	Melanie Thielker	114	30.5	+2.5
	Labour	Patrick Finn	96	8.5	–1.2
Majority			268	30.5
Turnout			592	28.1
Registered electors			2,107
	Independent hold		Swing	1.9

Mildenhall Queensway

Mildenhall Queensway
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Andy Neal*	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent hold

Minden

Minden (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Donna Higgins	831	49.6	+17.6
	Labour	Richard O'Driscoll	744	44.4	+14.2
	Conservative	Robert Everitt*	602	36.0	–4.8
	Conservative	Chris Turner	482	28.8	–7.0
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Korfanty	320	19.1	–8.8
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Pinsker	192	11.5	–14.4
Turnout			1,674	40.0
Registered electors			4,188
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative

Moreton Hall

Moreton Hall (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Armitage	810	46.3	+25.0
	Labour	Rowena Lindberg	797	45.6	*N/A*
	Conservative	Birgitte Mager*	781	44.7	+17.2
	Labour	Umor Haque	757	43.3	N/A
	Conservative	Peter Thompson*	716	40.9	–0.4
	Conservative	Derrick Maher	711	40.7	N/A
Turnout			1,749	30.5
Registered electors			5,735
	Labour gain from Independent
	Labour gain from Independent
	Conservative hold

Newmarket East

Newmarket East (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sue Perry	358	35.8	+13.6
	Conservative	Rachel Hood*	317	30.5	–7.1
	Liberal Democrats	Jonny Edge	309	29.8	+17.6
	Conservative	Robert Nobbs*	306	29.5	–6.4
	WSI	Jonathan Richer	292	28.1	+0.4
	Independent	Tom Kerby	245	23.6	N/A
Turnout			1,038	25.5
Registered electors			4,070
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Newmarket North

Newmarket North (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	WSI	Michael Anderson*	483	53.4	+7.0
	Labour	Janne Jarvis	347	38.4	+16.0
	Conservative	Chris Burton	313	34.6	–3.4
	WSI	Paula Stainton	290	32.1	–1.1
Turnout			904	25.0
Registered electors			3,614
	WSI hold
	Labour gain from Conservative

Newmarket West

Newmarket West (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kevin Yarrow	475	48.1	+12.5
	Conservative	Charlie Lynch	377	38.2	–10.8
	Conservative	Chloe Pitts	364	36.8	–1.5
	Green	Caroline Warn	343	34.7	N/A
	Reform UK	Adrian Whittle	116	11.7	N/A
Turnout			988	26.5
Registered electors			3,734
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Pakenham & Troston

Pakenham & Troston
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Speed	310	53.4	*N/A*
	Labour	Shirley Stephenson	271	46.6	N/A
Majority			39	6.8	N/A
Turnout			592	31.6	N/A
Registered electors			1,875
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Risby

Risby
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Susan Glossop*	506	64.0	–9.0
	Labour	Peter Appleton	285	36.0	+9.0
Majority			221	28.0
Turnout			805	35.6
Registered electors			2,264
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.0

Rougham

Rougham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sara Mildmay-White*	455	66.1	–8.1
	Labour	Ian Cullen	233	33.9	+8.1
Majority			222	32.2
Turnout			705	38.1
Registered electors			1,850
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.1

Southgate

Southgate (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Chung*	705	55.4	–17.5
	Conservative	Sarah Stamp	615	48.3	–9.9
	Labour	Judith Moore	388	30.5	–2.3
	Green	Chris Dexter-Mills	339	26.7	N/A
	Labour	Cheryl Godber	329	25.9	N/A
Turnout			1,272	41.1
Registered electors			3,095
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Stanton

Stanton
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Jim Thorndyke*	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Conservative

St Olaves

St Olaves (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Luke Halpin	511	51.1	+15.3
	Independent	Frank Stennett	440	44.0	*N/A*
	Labour	Mike Smith	418	41.8	N/A
	Conservative	Tom Murray	219	21.9	–11.1
	Conservative	James Cockram	166	16.6	N/A
Turnout			1,000	24.0
Registered electors			4,161
	Labour hold
	Independent hold

The Fornhams & Great Barton

The Fornhams & Great Barton (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Beccy Hopfensperger*	765	53.2	–18.4
	Conservative	Sarah Broughton*	719	50.0	–17.6
	Labour	Bruce Martin	383	26.6	–0.1
	Green	Jonathan King	308	21.4	N/A
	Labour	Brendan Moore	278	19.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	John Derry	226	15.7	N/A
Turnout			1,438	44.5
Registered electors			3,233
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

The Rows

The Rows (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	WSI	Mick Bradshaw	470	50.2	*N/A*
	WSI	Don Waldron*	470	50.2	*N/A*
	Conservative	Lance Stanbury	420	44.8	+15.6
	Conservative	Jordon Millward	378	40.3	+2.0
Turnout			937	24.4
Registered electors			3,836
	WSI gain from Independent
	WSI gain from Independent

Tollgate

Tollgate (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Diane Hind*	740	65.5	+22.9
	Labour	Marilyn Sayer	701	62.0	*N/A*
	Conservative	Mark Winter	354	31.3	–0.5
	Conservative	Daniel Sillett	350	31.0	N/A
Turnout			1,130	27.1
Registered electors			4,174
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Independent

Westgate

Westgate (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Augustine*	785	53.0	–5.3
	Conservative	Richard Rout*	751	50.7	–13.6
	Labour	Paul McGoochan	674	45.5	+7.4
Turnout			1,481	39.2
Registered electors			3,782
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Whepstead & Wickhambrook

Whepstead & Wickhambrook
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sarah Pugh	516	67.5	–12.7
	Labour	Robert Sanderson	248	32.5	+12.7
Majority			268	35.0
Turnout			771	37.1
Registered electors			2,077
	Conservative hold		Swing	12.6

Withersfield

Withersfield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Indy Wijenayaka	339	45.9	*N/A*
	Conservative	Peter Stevens*	325	44.0	N/A
	Independent	Peter Lord	75	10.1	N/A
Majority			14	1.9	N/A
Turnout			744	40.6	N/A
Registered electors			1,833
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

References

^ Of the 13 independent councillors on the council before the election, 12 formed the "Independent Group", led by Ian Shipp

^ "Your councillors by party". West Suffolk Council. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
^ "Current vacancies and elections". West Suffolk District Council. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
^ Green, Tamika (25 May 2023). "Bury St Edmunds councillor Cliff Waterman on 'exciting' new era for West Suffolk Council after being elected coalition leader". Suffolk News. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ Sinclair, Andrew (24 May 2023). "West Suffolk: Alliance formed to stop Tories running council". BBC News. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
^ "District Council election notices". West Suffolk District Council. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
^ "West Suffolk Council election results 4 May 2023". West Suffolk Council. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
^ Middleton, Siobhan (5 May 2023). "Suffolk local elections 2023: live coverage from election counts across the county". Suffolk News. Retrieved 7 January 2024.

[2] Of the 13 independent councillors on the council before the election, 12 formed the "Independent Group", led by Ian Shipp

[1] "Your councillors by party". West Suffolk Council. Retrieved 2 May 2023.

[3] "Current vacancies and elections". West Suffolk District Council. Retrieved 5 April 2023.

[4] Green, Tamika (25 May 2023). "Bury St Edmunds councillor Cliff Waterman on 'exciting' new era for West Suffolk Council after being elected coalition leader". Suffolk News. Retrieved 4 July 2023.

[5] Sinclair, Andrew (24 May 2023). "West Suffolk: Alliance formed to stop Tories running council". BBC News. Retrieved 7 January 2024.

[6] "District Council election notices". West Suffolk District Council. Retrieved 5 April 2023.

[7] "West Suffolk Council election results 4 May 2023". West Suffolk Council. Retrieved 7 January 2024.

[8] Middleton, Siobhan (5 May 2023). "Suffolk local elections 2023: live coverage from election counts across the county". Suffolk News. Retrieved 7 January 2024.

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v t e Council elections in Suffolk
Suffolk County Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Babergh District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
East Suffolk District Council	2019 2023
Ipswich Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Mid Suffolk District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
West Suffolk District Council	2019 2023
East Suffolk County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 Abolished
Forest Heath District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
St Edmundsbury Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Suffolk Coastal District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Abolished
Waveney District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2015 Abolished
West Suffolk County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 Abolished
See also: Wards Boundary changes