2023 Derbyshire Dales District Council election
2023 UK local government election / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2023 Derbyshire Dales District Council election was held on 4 May 2023 to elect all 34 councillors for Derbyshire Dales District Council. This was on the same day as other local elections.
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All 34 seats to Derbyshire Dales District Council 18 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Map showing the composition of Derbyshire Dales District Council following the election. Striped wards have mixed representation. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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For the first time since 1995, the Conservative Party failed to win a majority of seats. Instead, the Liberal Democrats won the largest number of seats, beating the Conservatives by one seat, the same margin as in 1995, but again failing to win a majority of their own.[2]
This was the first election to the Derbyshire Dales District Council to be held under the current ward boundaries. The total number of councillors was reduced from 39 to 34, and the total number of wards was reduced from 25 to 21. Consequently, the boundaries of most of the wards were different compared to those which had been in use since the 2003 election. The arrangements for each new ward are described below.[3]
Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, with the majority held by the Conservatives following the 2019 election having been lost through defections and resignations. Less than two months before the election the Conservative leader, Garry Purdy, who had led the council since 2019, was suspended and then resigned over private promises made to a local tourist attraction. Susan Hobson took over as Conservative leader and became acting leader of the council, with formal appointment of a new leader of the council deferred until after the election.[4] Immediately before the election the council was being run by a coalition comprising the Conservatives, the SDP councillor and three of the independent councillors.[5]
A "progressive alliance" coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Greens subsequently formed to take control of the council, with Liberal Democrat group leader Steve Flitter being appointed leader of the council at the annual council meeting on 25 May 2023.[6][7]