2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election

2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election
4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
All 35 seats to Surrey Heath Borough Council
18 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Sashi Mylvaganam Alan McClafferty[1]
Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Independent
Last election 10 seats, 28.6% 18 seats, 51.4% 4 seats, 11.4%
Seats before 9 18 5[a]
Seats won 24 6 3
Seat change Increase 14 Decrease 12 Decrease 1
Popular vote 28,416 22,912 3,927
Percentage 48.8% 39.4% 6.7%
Swing Increase 20.4% Decrease 7.4% Decrease 3.7%
  Fourth party Fifth party
  Blank Blank
Leader Sharon Galliford
Party Labour Green
Last election 1 seat, 2.9% 2 seats, 5.7%
Seats before 1 2
Seats won 2 0
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 2
Popular vote 2,428 145
Percentage 4.2% 0.2%
Swing Decrease 1.8% Decrease 4.7%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election
Leader before election

Alan McClafferty
Conservative
No overall control

 Leader after election

David Whitcroft
Liberal Democrats

The 2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect 32 of 35 members of Surrey Heath Borough Council in England.[2][3][4][5] It was held on the same day as other local elections. The Liberal Democrats took control of the council from a minority Conservative administration.[6][2]

Overview

Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, being led by a Conservative minority administration. The election in the Frimley Green ward was postponed until 15 June 2023 following the death of one of the original candidates.[7][8] Of the seats where elections were held on 5 May, the Liberal Democrats won 21 seats, enough to give them an overall majority on the council for the first time in its history.[9]

The Liberal Democrat group leader before the election, Sashi Mylvaganam, was a candidate in Frimley Green ward and so had to wait until 15 June to see if he would be re-elected. As such, the party chose David Whitcroft instead to be the new leader of the council, being appointed at the subsequent annual meeting of the council on 17 May 2023.[10] The Liberal Democrats won all three seats in the postponed Frimley Green election, with Sashi Mylvaganam returning to the council. The party then reconsidered its leadership, but chose to appoint neither Whitcroft nor Mylvaganam as its leader, appointing instead Shaun Macdonald. He was subsequently confirmed as the new leader of the council on 28 June 2023.[11]

Results summary

2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election
Party Candidates Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Liberal Democrats 31[12] 24 15 1 Increase14 68.6 48.8 28,416 +20.4
  Conservative 35 6 2 14 Decrease12 17.1 39.4 22,912 –7.4
  Independent 7 3 0 1 Decrease1 8.6 6.7 3,927 –3.7
  Labour 7 2 2 1 Increase1 5.7 4.2 2,428 –1.8
  Green 1 0 0 2 Decrease2 0.0 0.2 145 –4.7
  Reform 2 0 0 0 Steady 0.0 0.6 372 N/A

Ward results

The results for each ward were:[13]

Bagshot

Bagshot (3 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mark Gordon 1,061 55.1 +16.7
Conservative Valerie White* 978 50.8 +8.1
Liberal Democrats Richard Wilson 681 35.4 −16.2
Conservative Frank Du Cann 677 35.2 +1.2
Liberal Democrats Cathy Whitcroft 676 35.1 −9.3
Liberal Democrats Zee Virani 599 31.1 −8.7
Independent Andrew Willgoss 364 18.9 N/A
Reform Sam Goggin 202 10.5 N/A
Registered electors 5,649
Turnout 1,924 34.1
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats
Conservative hold
Liberal Democrats hold

Bisley and West End

Bisley and West End (3 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Liz Noble* 1,312 57.5 +34.4
Liberal Democrats Sarbie Kang 902 39.5 +18.7
Liberal Democrats Ying Perrett 863 37.8 +21.0
Conservative Adrian Page* 753 33.0 −13.6
Conservative Tony Henderson 702 30.8 −12.5
Conservative Alex Hanney 625 27.4 −12.6
Independent Graham Alleway* 598 26.2 −16.3
Independent Adrian Keeling 408 17.9 N/A
Registered electors 6,931
Turnout 2,281 32.9
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
Liberal Democrats gain from Independent

Frimley

Frimley (2 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Alan Ashbery 783 60.9 N/A
Liberal Democrats David O'Mahoney 722 56.1 N/A
Conservative Sarah Croke* 511 39.7 −29.9
Conservative Darryl Ratiram* 397 30.9 −36.0
Registered electors 3,728
Turnout 1286 34.5
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Frimley Green

Following the death of a candidate in Frimley Green ward (three members) the election was countermanded. A poll took place on the 15th June 2023, with Attieh Fard replacing the late Karen Campion.[8]

Frimley Green (3 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jacques Olmo 1,131 61.4 +6.7
Liberal Democrats Helen Whitcroft 1,111 60.3 +5.9
Liberal Democrats Sashi Mylvaganam* 1,070 58.1 +10.4
Conservative Stuart Black 738 42.4 +10.1
Conservative Howard Thomson 610 33.1 +2.6
Conservative Attieh Fard 608 33.0 +5.1
Turnout 1843 35.6
Registered electors 5,174
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats hold

Heatherside

Heatherside (3 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats John Skipper* 1,613 65.3 +17.2
Liberal Democrats Louise Ashbery 1,559 63.1 +10.0
Liberal Democrats Bob Raikes 1,512 61.2 +16.0
Conservative Julia Wood 829 33.5 −5.5
Conservative Simon Dickens 819 33.1 −2.9
Conservative Dave Henry 811 32.8 +0.8
Registered electors 5,728
Turnout 2471 43.1
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats hold

Lightwater

Lightwater (3 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Julie Hoad 1,184 52.2 N/A
Liberal Democrats Shaun MacDonald 1,128 49.7 N/A
Liberal Democrats Kevin Thompson 1,080 47.6 N/A
Conservative Katia Malcaus Cooper 966 42.6 +3.3
Conservative Rebecca Jennings-Evans* 943 41.5 −2.6
Conservative James Harris 840 37.0 −1.3
Reform Peter Appleford 170 7.5 −7.2
Labour Tom Johnson 144 6.3 N/A
Registered electors 5,311
Turnout 2270 42.7
Liberal Democrats gain from Green
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
Liberal Democrats gain from Green

Mytchett and Deepcut

Mytchett and Deepcut (3 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Whitcroft 995 54.9 +10.3
Liberal Democrats Morgan Rise* 961 53.0 +12.3
Liberal Democrats Cliff Betton 950 52.4 +11.8
Conservative Attieh Fard 752 41.5 −10.4
Conservative Lawrence Alexander 747 41.2 +8.3
Conservative David Natolie 661 36.4 +4.2
Registered electors 5,663
Turnout 1814 32.0
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Old Dean

Old Dean (2 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Shaun Garrett* 563 58.9 +10.7
Conservative Lewis Mears 504 52.7 +5.5
Labour Heather Gibbs 393 41.1 −9.1
Labour Brian Gibbs 382 40.0 −0.9
Registered electors 3,860
Turnout 957 24.8
Conservative hold
Conservative gain from Labour

Parkside

Parkside (2 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Rob Lee 837 54.6 +20.3
Liberal Democrats Nirmal Kang 833 54.3 +28.7
Conservative Louise Grainger 653 42.6 −14.8
Conservative Steed Bennett 642 41.9 −12.4
Registered electors 3,931
Turnout 1534 39.0
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

St Michael's

St Michael's (2 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jonathan Quin 684 56.5 +17.6
Labour Murray Rowlands 661 54.6 +15.7
Conservative Chris Buxton 503 41.6 −16.3
Conservative Gregory Mwenkentishi 417 34.5 −18.9
Registered electors 4,304
Turnout 1210 28.1
Labour gain from Conservative
Labour gain from Conservative

St Paul's

St Paul's (2 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jonny Cope 714 48.5 −19.2
Conservative Josh Thorne 692 47.0 −15.7
Liberal Democrats Simon Browne 673 45.7 +14.0
Liberal Democrats Matt Hodges-Long 654 44.4 +16.9
Labour Manuela Radeva 83 5.6 N/A
Labour George Ridgway 81 5.5 N/A
Registered electors 3,869
Turnout 1472 38.1
Conservative hold
Conservative hold

Town

Town (2 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Mary Glauert 706 59.6 +18.8
Liberal Democrats Leanne MacIntyre 690 58.3 +22.6
Conservative Nathan Drury 457 38.6 −19.8
Conservative Ricky Singh 414 35.0 −19.0
Registered electors 4,056
Turnout 1184 29.2
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Watchetts

Watchetts (2 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Lisa Finan-Cooke 831 59.4 N/A
Liberal Democrats Kel Finan-Cooke 823 58.8 N/A
Conservative Caroline Adam-Holboj 533 38.1 −23.1
Conservative Benedict Dias 511 36.5 −23.4
Registered electors 4,009
Turnout 1400 34.9
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Windlesham and Chobham

Windlesham and Chobham (3 seats)[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Victoria Wheeler* 864 43.6 −21.1
Independent Pat Tedder* 790 39.9 −22.3
Independent Emma-Jane McGrath* 611 30.8 −22.1
Conservative Justin Cars 535 27.0 −3.6
Liberal Democrats Amy Moqbel 534 26.9 N/A
Liberal Democrats Jack Massarano 513 25.9 N/A
Liberal Democrats Sara Ibrahim 490 24.7 N/A
Conservative Abu Bakar 394 19.9 −5.2
Conservative Faaris Khan 352 17.8 −5.0
Independent Alison Hook 292 14.7 −6.3
Green Clare Relton 145 7.3 N/A
Registered electors 5,566
Turnout 1982 35.6
Independent hold
Independent hold
Independent hold

Changes 2023–2027

  • 9 September 2024: Sashi Mylvaganam left the Liberal Democrats to join the Conservative group, citing frustration with the Liberal Democrat leadership.[15][16]

By-elections

Old Dean

Old Dean by-election: 24 October 2024[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Dave Hough 394 44.7 N/A
Conservative Catherine Gibbard 278 31.6 –27.3
Reform Sam Goggin 109 12.4 N/A
Labour Charlie Wilson 96 10.9 –30.2
Independent Tal Belnik 4 0.5 N/A
Majority 116 13.1 N/A
Turnout 881 22.6 –2.2
Registered electors 3,894
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Conservative councillor Lewis Mears on 17 September 2024, after he was offered a job opportunity abroad.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Of the five independents on the council before the election, two formed a group called the "Camberley Independents", led by Richard Brooks, and the other three formed a group called the "Community Group" with the one Labour councillor, led by Victoria Wheeler.
  1. ↑ "Your councillors by political grouping". Surrey Heath Borough Council. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Surrey Heath result - Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "Borough and Parish Elections 2023". Surrey Heath Borough Council. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  4. ↑ "Election timetable in England". UK Government. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  5. ↑ "All the Surrey Heath local election 2023 candidates in full". Surrey Advertiser. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  6. ↑ "Surrey Heath | England Councils 2023 - Election Results | Sky News". election.news.sky.com. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  7. ↑ Caulfield, Chris (24 April 2023). "Well-loved mum and Surrey election candidate has passed away". SurreyLive. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  8. 1 2 NOTICE OF CANCELLED ELECTION, Surrey Heath Borough council returning officer.
  9. ↑ "Surrey election results 2023: Conservatives lose seats across the county". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  10. ↑ "Annual Full Council 2023 - Leader and Executive announced". Surrey Heath Borough Council. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  11. ↑ Caulfield, Chris (28 June 2023). "Surrey Heath leader announced as councillor who's worked just 58 days". Surrey Live. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  12. ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated - Borough Elections". Surrey Heath Borough Council. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "Borough elections 2023". Surrey Heath Borough Council. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Borough elections 2023". www.surreyheath.gov.uk. 5 July 2023. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  15. ↑ "Former Lib Dem Leader crosses the floor to join the Conservatives". Surrey Heath Conservatives. 9 September 2024. Archived from the original on 17 November 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  16. ↑ "I could not support a leader who was willing to sacrifice residents' welfare purely for political gain - Cllr Sashi Mylvaganam". Surrey Heath Conservatives. 18 September 2024. Archived from the original on 2 October 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "Old Dean By-Election 2024". www.surreyheath.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 8 November 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "'Serving the Old Dean community as a Councillor has been an incredible privilege', says Cllr Lewis Mears". Surrey Heath Conservatives. 17 September 2024. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
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