2023 East Suffolk District Council election

2023 East Suffolk District Council election

← 2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 55 seats to East Suffolk District Council 28 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Caroline Topping Steve Gallant Peter Byatt Party Green Conservative Labour Last election 4 seats, 22.0% 39 seats, 38.2% 7 seats, 17.0% Seats before 5 39 7 Seats won 16 15 12 Seat change 12 24 5 Popular vote 35,804 49,399 26,279 Percentage 26.8% 37.0% 19.7% Swing 4.8% 1.2% 2.7%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader David Beavan Party Liberal Democrats Independent Last election 3 seats, 11.4% 2 seats, 4.8% Seats before 3 1 Seats won 11 1 Seat change 8 1 Popular vote 21,106 641 Percentage 15.8% 0.5% Swing 4.4% 4.3%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 East Suffolk District Council election
Leader before election Steve Gallant Conservative Leader after election Caroline Topping Green No overall control

The 2023 East Suffolk District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of East Suffolk District Council in Suffolk, England.^[1] This was held on the same day as other local elections. All 55 seats on the council were up for election.

Prior to the election the council was under Conservative majority control.^[2] The Conservative leader of the council, Steve Gallant, did not stand for re-election in 2023.^[3]

Following the results of the election, the Conservatives lost control of the council to no overall control, with the three opposition parties making gains at their expense. A coalition of the Greens, Liberal Democrats and the independent councillor subsequently formed. On 24 May 2023, at the inaugural council meeting for the 2023-2024 term, Caroline Topping, a Green Party councillor for Beccles & Worlingham ward, was elected as leader of the council, with Liberal Democrat leader David Beavan becoming deputy leader. The new administration holds 28 out of 55 seats and has a majority of 1.^[4][5]

The overall results were as follows:^[6]

2023 East Suffolk District Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Green	37	16	12	0	12	29.1	26.8	35,804	+4.8
	Conservative	55	15	0	24	24	27.3	37.0	49,399	–1.2
	Labour	37	12	5	0	5	21.8	19.7	26,279	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	25	11	8	0	8	20.0	15.8	21,106	+4.4
	Independent	3	1	0	1	1	1.8	0.5	641	–4.3
	Communist	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	257	N/A
	Heritage	1	0	0	0		0.0	<0.1	56	N/A

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by East Suffolk District Council following the close of nominations on 4 April 2023.^[7] The results for each ward were as follows, with an asterisk (*) indicating an incumbent councillor standing for re-election:^[8][9]

Tom Daly previously won a seat in a by-election, however the seat is shown as a gain as compared to the 2019 election.

Deben

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Mallinder*	773	51.5	+3.9
	Green	Richard Noble	729	48.5	+29.6
Majority			44	3.0	–23.6
Turnout			1,517	40.5	–0.5
Registered electors			3,742
	Conservative hold		Swing	12.9

Kelsale & Yoxford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Julia Ewart	752	54.4	+31.4
	Conservative	Alexander Nicoll	356	25.8	–18.8
	Labour	John Clark	274	19.8	N/A
Majority			396	28.6	N/A
Turnout			1,397	43.9	+5.2
Registered electors			3,179
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	25.1

Kessingland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Green	398	37.0	+4.9
	Conservative	Letitia Smith*	359	33.4	–1.0
	Green	Jon Coxon	318	29.6	+8.3
Majority			39	3.6	N/A
Turnout			1,086	31.2	+1.8
Registered electors			3,485
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	2.9

Lothingland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Ashdown*	434	47.1	–1.0
	Labour	Thomas Leveritt	318	34.5	+8.7
	Green	Rosemary Brambley	111	12.0	–6.5
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Groome	59	6.4	–1.1
Majority			116	12.6	–9.7
Turnout			925	31.6	–0.9
Registered electors			2,926
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.9

Melton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Rachel Smith-Lyte*	890	52.1	–7.8
	Conservative	Alan Porter	641	37.5	–2.6
	Labour	Katherine Bicknell	178	10.4	N/A
Majority			249	14.6	–5.2
Turnout			1,716	47.7	+1.6
Registered electors			3,594
	Green hold		Swing	2.6

Rendlesham & Orford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Tim Wilson	842	58.1	+36.9
	Conservative	Ray Herring*	550	38.0	–13.9
	Heritage	Martin Foxton	56	3.9	N/A
Majority			292	20.1	N/A
Turnout			1,455	37.8	+4.2
Registered electors			3,841
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing	24.5

Rushmere St Andrew

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Deborah Dean	582	46.8	–11.1
	Labour	Alistair Dick	405	32.6	+12.5
	Green	Stewart Belfield	256	20.6	–1.4
Majority			177	14.2	–21.7
Turnout			1,252	35.4	+3.0
Registered electors			3,539
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.6

Saxmundham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Fisher*	396	34.5	–11.5
	Liberal Democrats	James Sandbach	320	27.9	+1.9
	Conservative	Phillip Dunnett	222	19.3	–7.9
	Labour	Mark Turner	210	18.3	N/A
Majority			76	6.6	–12.2
Turnout			1,156	33.3	–0.4
Registered electors			3,472
	Independent hold		Swing	6.7

Southwold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Bevan*	1,122	72.4	–8.4
	Conservative	Tony Goldson	265	17.1	+1.6
	Labour	Stephen Stansfield	87	5.6	+1.9
	Independent	Kevin Cross	76	4.9	N/A
Majority			857	55.3	–10.0
Turnout			1,553	48.2	–8.0
Registered electors			3,221
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	5.0

Wickham Market

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Sally Noble	930	62.6	+45.3
	Conservative	Carol Poulter*	555	37.4	–9.7
Majority			375	25.2	N/A
Turnout			1,493	38.3	+0.6
Registered electors			3,895
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing	27.5

Wrentham, Wangford & Westleton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Ashton	893	59.5	+32.8
	Conservative	Norman Brooks*	448	29.8	–5.6
	Labour	Jane Murray	161	10.7	–3.6
Majority			445	29.7	N/A
Turnout			1,518	44.3	+5.1
Registered electors			3,428
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	19.2