2018 Norwich City Council election

The 2018 Norwich City Council election took on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Norwich City Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. 13 of 39 seats (one-third) were up for election.

2018 Norwich City Council election

← 2016 3 May 2018 2019 →
13 of 39 seats (One Third) to Norwich City Council 20 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Labour Green Liberal Democrats Seats before 26 10 3 Seats won 12 0 1 Seats after 31 5 3 Seat change 5 5 Popular vote 17,094 6,735 3,987 Percentage 49.2% 19.4% 11.5% Swing 13.8pp 10.9pp 1.5pp
Map showing the 2016 local election results in Norwich. †As only one-third of seats were up for election, this figure indicates the total number of seats held by the party following the election to allow for year-on-year comparison.
Council control before election Labour Party (UK) Council control after election Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party retained overall control of the council, winning 12 out of 13 seats up for election and 49% of the vote, their best result in over 20 years. The Greens lost every seat they were defending, whilst the Liberal Democrats retained their single seat in Eaton ward.^[1] The Conservatives once again failed to elect any councillors, although they did increase their share of the vote by 3 percentage points. As of the 2018 election, the Conservatives have not won a seat on Norwich City Council for over 10 years.

All changes in vote share are calculated with reference to the 2014 election, the last time these seats were contested.

Background

In the 2016 election, the Labour Party achieved its best result in the city since 1998, winning 44% of the vote and 11 of 13 seats up for election, with the Greens dropping to their worst percentage result since 2005 (21%) and losing 4 of the 5 seats they were defending. The scale of the Labour victory was reported to have surprised both Labour and the Green Party and was partly attributed to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party bringing "some voters who had previously switched to the Greens back to Labour".^[2]

The following year, in the Norfolk County Council election, Labour bucked its national trend of poor results and gained 4 seats in Norwich, all from the Green Party, leaving the Greens with no representation on the County Council for the first time since 2001. This was followed by a general election on 8 June, which saw Labour win Norwich South with 61% of the vote, with the Green Party candidate achieving a total of 3%. Labour also came within 507 votes of winning Norwich North from the Conservative Party.

Overall result

Norwich City Council Election, 2018

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	12	5	0	+5	92.3	49.2	17,094	+13.8
	Conservative	0	0	0	0		19.7	6,841	+3.2
	Green	0	0	5	-5		19.4	6,735	-10.9
	Liberal Democrats	1	0	0	0	7.7	11.5	3,987	+1.5
	Independent	0	0	0	0		0.3	116	New
Total		13						34,773

Changes in vote share are relative to the last time these seats were contested in 2014.

Council Composition

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

↓

26	10	3
Labour	Green	Lib Dem

After the election the composition of the council was:

↓

31	5	3
Labour	Green	Lib Dem

Ward Results

Bowthorpe

Bowthorpe ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sue Sands	1,297	59.5	+11.6
	Conservative	Andrew Roy Wiltshire	579	26.6	+2.4
	Green	Jean Kathleen Bishop	173	7.9	−14.4
	Liberal Democrats	Oliver Brian James Healey	131	6.0	+0.4
Majority			718	32.9
Turnout			2,180	24.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Catton Grove

Catton Grove ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Stonard	1,220	51.3	+13.7
	Conservative	Henry Charles Newton	809	34.0	+12.3
	Green	Tony Arthur Park	196	8.2	−4.2
	Liberal Democrats	Leigh John Tooke	153	6.4	+1.3
Majority			411	17.3
Turnout			2,378
	Labour hold		Swing

Crome

Crome ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Marion Frances Maxwell	1,219	58.0	+16.4
	Conservative	Tom L. Sherman	592	28.2	+12.0
	Green	Judith Marianne Ford	178	8.5	−1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Samuel Neal	111	5.3	+2.0
Majority			627	29.8
Turnout			2,100
	Labour hold		Swing

Eaton

Eaton ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	James Wright	1,799	49.6	+12.8
	Conservative	Samantha Louise England	888	24.5	−5.4
	Labour	Ben Hardie	689	19.0	+0.9
	Green	Jane Isobel Saunders	249	6.9	−8.3
Majority			911	25.1
Turnout			3,625
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Lakenham

Lakenham ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rachel Sarah Trevor	1,353	57.0	+22.3
	Conservative	Eric Philip Ashwell Masters	475	20.0	+11.6
	Liberal Democrats	Emily Rachel Cutler	307	12.9	−7.9
	Green	Frederick Peter John Offord	238	10.0	−4.8
Majority			878	25.0
Turnout			2373
	Labour hold		Swing

Mancroft

Mancroft ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jo Smith	1,248	42.6	+9.7
	Green	Sandra Bogelein	1,171	40.0	−5.4
	Conservative	Iain Michael Morgan Gwynn	373	12.7	−1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Tustin	139	4.7	−2.7
Majority			77	2.6
Turnout			2,931
	Labour gain from Green		Swing

Mile Cross

Mile Cross ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jacob Stephen Orlando Huntley	1,124	57.8	+17.4
	Conservative	John Frederick Fisher	393	20.2	+8.2
	Green	Adrian St.John Holmes	188	9.7	−10.0
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Christopher Thomas	125	6.4	+1.8
	Independent	Richard Alan Edwards	116	6.0	New
Majority			731	37.6
Turnout			1,946
	Labour hold		Swing

Nelson

Nelson ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Emma Louise Hampton	1,643	47.2	+15.7
	Green	Paul Vincent Neale	1,459	42.0	−11.0
	Conservative	Reece Stanley Durrant	189	5.4	−2.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Angus Fairbairn	185	5.3	−2.7
Majority			184	5.2
Turnout			3,476
	Labour gain from Green		Swing

Sewell

Sewell ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matthew Robert Packer	1,652	64.5	+27.5
	Conservative	Tessa Ann Jackson	431	16.8	+3.9
	Green	Cami Ouzerdine	325	12.7	−14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Rober Hardman	155	6.0	+1.4
Majority			1,221	47.7
Turnout			2563
	Labour hold		Swing

Thorpe Hamlet

Thorpe Hamlet ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Cavan Stewart	1,277	39.7	+10.1
	Green	Lesley Grahame	1,122	34.9	−7.3
	Conservative	Alex Jackson-Dennis	587	18.3	−1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Dean	229	7.1	−1.3
Majority			155	4.8
Turnout			3,215
	Labour gain from Green		Swing

Town Close

Town Close ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Clifford Stutely	1,776	48.9	+15.5
	Conservative	Mary Josephine Chacksfield	841	23.0	+4.5
	Green	Nick Caistor	659	18.1	−24.0
	Liberal Democrats	Silvia Schmidtova	373	10.2	+4.0
Majority			935	25.9
Turnout
	Labour gain from Green		Swing

University

University ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Matthew Fulton-McAlister	1,156	63.2	+11.4
	Green	Claire Louise Stephenson	296	16.2	−13.2
	Conservative	Ahmod Syed Zulkarnine	252	13.8	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Connor Bell	125	6.8	+0.1
Majority			860	47.0
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Wensum

Wensum ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Erin Victoria Fulton-McAlister	1,440	58.6	+23.0
	Green	Thomas Edward Holloway	481	19.5	−28.2
	Conservative	Thomas Simon Sheppard	432	17.5	+4.9
	Liberal Democrats	David Thomas	113	4.6	+0.4
Majority			959	39.1
Turnout
	Labour gain from Green		Swing

References

1. "Local Election Results 3 May 2018 | Local Election Results 3 May 2018 | Norwich City Council". Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
2. "Torrid night for Greens in Norwich as Labour increase its hold on the city". 6 May 2016.