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]

Aldeburgh & Leiston (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Tom Daly*	2,086	54.8	+35.7
	Green	Katie Graham	1,961	51.5	+36.1
	Green	Sarah Whitelock	1,896	49.8	+36.4
	Conservative	Jocelyn Bond	1,275	33.5	+2.1
	Conservative	Tony Cooper*	1,233	32.4	–1.3
	Conservative	Andrew Reid	1,089	28.6	–2.1
	Labour	David Grugeon	599	15.7	–6.6
	Labour	Ray Breach	561	14.7	–6.1
Turnout			3,808	38.6	+0.4
Registered electors			9,876
	Green gain from Conservative
	Green gain from Conservative
	Green gain from Independent

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

Beccles & Worlingham (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Caroline Topping*	2,792	67.7	+2.0
	Green	Sarah Plummer*	2,673	64.8	–7.6
	Green	Sheryl Rumble	2,471	59.9	–5.5
	Conservative	Trish Mortimer*	851	20.6	–4.0
	Conservative	Bernard Reader	806	19.6	–1.5
	Conservative	May Reader	784	19.0	+3.0
	Labour	Sam Hunt	583	14.1	+8.9
	Labour	Tarek Lahin	531	12.9	+7.7
	Labour	Tony Burgess	487	11.8	N/A
Turnout			4,122	35.0	–9.1
Registered electors			11,768
	Green hold
	Green hold
	Green hold

Bungay & Wainford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Toby Hammond	1,682	59.0	+25.0
	Green	Anthony Speca	1,569	55.1	+27.3
	Conservative	Judy Cloke*	812	28.5	–14.2
	Conservative	Mark Bee	776	27.2	–15.9
	Labour	Tim Mobbs	294	10.3	–5.0
	Labour	Chris Saddler	229	8.0	–5.8
	Independent	Natalie Carlile	169	5.9	N/A
Turnout			2,850	41.5	+5.5
Registered electors			6,868
	Green gain from Conservative
	Green gain from Conservative

Carlford & Fynn Valley (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Dan Clery	1,388	50.6	+23.5
	Conservative	Colin Hedgley*	1,272	46.3	–4.2
	Green	Nigel Hiley	1,263	46.0	+26.2
	Conservative	Ben Coupe	1,257	45.8	–4.1
Turnout			2,745	40.7	+1.8
Registered electors			6,745
	Green gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Carlton & Whitton (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jamie Starling	904	45.5	+13.7
	Conservative	Jenny Ceresa*	879	44.3	+14.2
	Labour	Charlotte Barker	769	38.7	+12.6
	Labour	Sonia Barker	758	38.2	+16.9
	Green	Anna Hammond	191	9.6	–2.7
	Green	Daniel Keates	143	7.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	John Mercer	135	6.8	–0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Dave O'Neill	90	4.5	N/A
Turnout			1,985	25.4	–3.2
Registered electors			7,802
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Carlton Colville (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Craig Rivett*	787	41.7	+8.1
	Conservative	Myles Scrancher	696	36.9	–0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Adam Robertson	658	34.9	+5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Thomas	604	32.0	+2.9
	Labour	Christian Newsome	473	25.1	+6.8
	Labour	Jack Smith	438	23.2	+7.4
Turnout			1,887	25.4	–2.8
Registered electors			7,439
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

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

Eastern Felixstowe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Seamus Bennett	2,288	50.2	+19.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jan Candy	1,838	40.3	+15.8
	Conservative	Mark Jepson*	1,722	37.8	+0.2
	Conservative	Steve Wiles*	1,676	36.8	–3.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Underwood	1,567	34.4	+10.9
	Conservative	Anthony Malster	1,521	33.4	–10.4
	Labour	David Rowe	1,115	24.5	+3.1
	Communist	Hagar Babbington	154	3.4	N/A
Turnout			4,559	42.9	+3.7
Registered electors			10,638
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Framlingham (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Vince Langdon-Morris	1,652	57.9	+23.6
	Liberal Democrats	Owen Grey	1,283	45.0	+16.1
	Conservative	Tom Faulkner	1,051	36.9	–2.5
	Conservative	Maurice Cook*	1,046	36.7	–5.3
Turnout			2,851	41.0	+3.3
Registered electors			6,961
	Green gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Gunton & St Margarets (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George King	1,020	44.6	+19.9
	Labour	Graham Parker	960	42.0	+21.6
	Conservative	Linda Coulam*	933	40.8	+10.8
	Conservative	Ryan Harvey	801	35.1	+1.1
	Green	Alison Ballantyne	208	9.1	–14.3
	Green	Kerri Edmondson	198	8.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Fiona Shreeve	121	5.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	John Shreeve	94	4.1	N/A
Turnout			2,285	30.0	±0.0
Registered electors			7,626
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative

Halesworth & Blything (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Beth Keys-Holloway	1,756	65.6	+23.0
	Green	Geoffrey Wakeling	1,702	63.6	N/A
	Conservative	Alison Cackett*	760	28.4	–15.0
	Conservative	Graham Catchpole	629	23.5	–19.3
	Labour	John Murray	254	9.5	–14.2
Turnout			2,675	40.2	+3.4
Registered electors			6,647
	Green gain from Conservative
	Green gain from Conservative

Harbour & Normanston (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Craig*	1,117	55.2	+19.1
	Labour	Keith Patience*	1,109	54.8	+17.4
	Labour	Tess Gandy*	1,088	53.8	+18.4
	Conservative	David Coulam	560	27.7	+14.2
	Conservative	Deanna Law	516	25.5	+12.7
	Conservative	Vince Rule	473	23.4	+11.8
	Green	Alice Eastaugh	309	15.3	–0.7
	Green	Phillip Love	282	13.9	N/A
	Green	Debbie Ray	272	13.5	N/A
Turnout			2,022	18.1	–4.3
Registered electors			11,176
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

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

Kesgrave (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Debbie McCallum*	1,958	58.6	–1.3
	Conservative	Stuart Lawson*	1,367	40.9	–8.2
	Conservative	Geoff Lynch*	1,261	37.7	–9.6
	Liberal Democrats	Brad Clements	1,207	36.1	+12.6
	Labour	Lesley Bensley	972	29.1	+12.8
	Green	Marcin Burcon	905	27.1	+5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Neal	862	25.8	N/A
Turnout			3,342	29.9	+0.6
Registered electors			11,161
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

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

Kirkley & Pakefield (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Louise Gooch*	1,422	52.0	+15.8
	Labour	Peter Byatt*	1,421	52.0	+15.6
	Labour	Malcolm Pitchers*	1,239	45.4	+14.5
	Conservative	David Bromley	866	31.7	+3.0
	Conservative	June Ford	848	31.0	+3.9
	Conservative	Jean Bowry	788	28.8	+4.1
	Green	Annette Abbott	474	17.3	–4.0
	Green	Alan Barnes	406	14.9	N/A
	Green	Christopher Hart	323	11.8	N/A
Turnout			2,732	26.2	–1.5
Registered electors			10,441
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

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

Martlesham & Purdis Farm (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Thompson*	1,229	54.0	+9.5
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Packard	1,094	48.0	N/A
	Conservative	Chris Blundell*	1,076	47.2	–9.1
	Conservative	Guy Jenkinson	930	40.8	–1.9
Turnout			2,278	37.2	+3.1
Registered electors			6,121
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

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

Orwell & Villages (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Ninnmey	1,736	62.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Lee Reeves	1,492	53.7	N/A
	Conservative	Mick Richardson	1,004	36.2	–2.6
	Conservative	Patti Mulcahy	858	30.9	–6.7
Turnout			2,776	35.9	–3.0
Registered electors			7,730
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Oulton Broad (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Back*	1,403	48.9	+9.2
	Conservative	Keith Robinson*	1,329	46.3	+9.3
	Conservative	Andrée Gee*	1,304	45.5	+8.9
	Labour	Bob Groome	989	34.5	+11.5
	Labour	Jen Jones	985	34.3	+9.2
	Labour	Paul Page	886	30.9	+9.9
	Green	Andrew Eastnaugh	321	11.2	–0.8
	Green	Susan Steward	294	10.2	–1.3
	Green	Jesse Timberlake	286	10.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Simon MacDowall	163	5.7	–3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Turner	142	4.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Sutton-Day	137	4.8	N/A
Turnout			2,869	26.4	–2.3
Registered electors			10,852
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

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

Western Felixstowe (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Deacon*	1,204	49.8	+7.5
	Labour	Amanda Folley	965	39.9	+6.7
	Labour	Rosie Smithson	916	37.9	+8.3
	Conservative	Stuart Bird*	848	35.1	–1.3
	Conservative	Tracey Green*	829	34.3	–1.0
	Conservative	Steve Bain	815	33.7	+1.3
	Green	Richard Keyworth	456	18.9	–1.9
	Green	Angus Thody	364	15.1	–4.4
	Communist	Mark Jones	103	4.3	N/A
Turnout			2,416	27.6	–0.4
Registered electors			8,759
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative

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

Woodbridge

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Stephen Molyneux	1,404	48.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Kay Yule*	1,220	42.5	–12.9
	Labour	Paul Richards	864	30.1	–6.8
	Conservative	Geoff Holdcroft	845	29.4	–7.5
	Conservative	Stephen Attwell	776	27.0	–11.1
Turnout			2,870	44.9	+1.2
Registered electors			6,398
	Green gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats hold

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