2023 Swale Borough Council election

The 2023 Swale Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Swale Borough Council in Kent, England.^[3] This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

2023 Swale Borough Council election

← 2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 47 seats to Swale Borough Council 24 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Roger Truelove Alan Horton Mike Baldock Party Labour Conservative Swale Ind. Last election 11 seats, 23.7% 16 seats, 34.1% 10 seats, 20.1% Seats before 9 15[a] 8 Seats after 15 12 11 Seat change 4 4 1 Percentage 24.4% 30.6% 17.3%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ben Martin Tim Valentine Party Liberal Democrats Green Independent Last election 5 seats, 9.7% 2 seats, 5.7% 2 seats, 4.6% Seats before 4 2 8[b] Seats after 5 3 1 Seat change 1 1 Percentage 13.1% 8.7% 4.2%   Seventh party   Party Reform UK Last election N/A Seats before 1 Seats after 0 Seat change N/A Percentage 1.0%
The winner of each seat by party in the 2023 Swale Borough Council Election
Leader before election Mike Baldock Swale Independents No overall control Leader after election Tim Gibson Labour No overall control

The council was under no overall control prior to the election. The Conservatives were the largest party, but the council was being run by a rainbow coalition of all the other main parties, led by Mike Baldock of local party the Swale Independents. The council remained under no overall control after the election, and Labour overtook the Conservatives to become the largest party.^[4] A new coalition of Labour, the Swale Independents and Greens formed.^[5] The new Labour group leader, Tim Gibson, was appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 17 May 2023, with Mike Baldock becoming deputy leader.^[6]

Summary

Election result

2023 Swale Borough Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	31	15	6	0	6	31.92%	24.43%	13,343	1.03%
	Conservative	44	12	3	7	4	25.53%	30.58%	16,703	3.42%
	Swale Ind.	15	11	3	1	2	23.4%	17.3%	9,449	2.8%
	Liberal Democrats	22	5	1	0	1	10.64%	13.05%	7,127	3.35%
	Green	13	3	1	0	1	6.38%	8.65%	4,722	2.95%
	Independent	7	1	0	5	5	2.13%	4.21%	2,301	0.39%
	Reform UK	4	0	0	1	1	0%	1.04%	569	New
	Heritage	1	0	0	0	0	0%	0.44%	240	New
	Monster Raving Loony	1	0	0	0	0	0%	0.3%	161	0.31%

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Swale Borough Council following the close of nominations on 4 April 2023.^[7] The results for each ward were as follows:^[8]

Abbey

Abbey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Hannah Perkin*	918	63.2	+18
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Williams	807	55.6	+18
	Labour	Trevor Payne	314	21.6	+4
	Conservative	Jay Brown	276	19.0	+1
	Labour Co-op	Frances Rehal	261	18.0	+4
	Conservative	Melanie Regan-Brown	244	16.8	±0
Turnout			1,452
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow

Bobbing, Iwade & Lower Halstow (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Swale Ind.	Lloyd Chapman	501	39.3	−20
	Conservative	Rog Clark*	483	37.9	−1
	Labour	Olufemi Olukoya	401	31.5	+11
	Conservative	Gareth Randall	343	26.9	−3
	Liberal Democrats	Marc Wilson	267	21.0	N/A
	Green	Carol Goatham	236	18.5	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,274
	Swale Ind. hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Borden and Grove Park

Borden & Grove Park (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Swale Ind.	Mike Baldock*	1,030	71.5	−8
	Swale Ind.	Ann Cavanagh	728	50.5	N/A
	Conservative	Nicholas Hampshire*	424	29.4	−5
	Conservative	Conor Dobbs	262	18.2	N/A
	Labour	Martin Singer	184	12.8	−15
Majority
Turnout			1,441
	Swale Ind. hold		Swing
	Swale Ind. gain from Conservative		Swing

Boughton and Courtenay

Boughton & Courtenay (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Rich Lehmann	1,123	61.9	+22
	Green	Alastair Gould*	1,122	61.9	+18
	Conservative	Piers Baker	392	21.6	−8
	Conservative	Oliver Lane	346	19.1	−1
	Swale Ind.	Jeff Tutt	278	15.3	−18
	Liberal Democrats	Sonia Fox	102	5.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ida Linfield	77	4.2	N/A
Majority			730
Turnout			1,814
	Green hold		Swing
	Green hold		Swing

Chalkwell

Chalkwell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charlie Miller	298	55.3	−13.0
	Conservative	Richard Allsep	173	32.1	+0.4
	Green	Hannah Temple	68	12.6	N/A
Majority
Turnout			539
	Labour hold		Swing

East Downs

East Downs

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Terry Thompson	423	45.9	+28.7
	Conservative	David Simmons*	389	42.2	−3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Fisher	110	11.9	+3.1
Majority
Turnout			922
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing

Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Swale Ind.	Richard Palmer*	943	58.8	−4
	Swale Ind.	Chris Palmer	879	54.8	N/A
	Conservative	Alan Horton*	513	32.0	−4
	Conservative	Asha Saroy	336	20.9	−12
	Labour	Margaret Cooper	279	17.4	±0
Majority
Turnout			1,605
	Swale Ind. hold		Swing
	Swale Ind. gain from Conservative		Swing

Homewood

Homewood (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Simon Clark*	511	38.2	−26
	Labour	Shelley Cheesman	483	36.2	−35
	Swale Ind.	Jason Clinch	395	29.6	N/A
	Conservative	Danielle Hoynes	343	25.7	±0
	Conservative	John Wright	340	25.4	−3
	Heritage	Thomas Lee	240	18.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Stennings	166	12.4	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,336
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Kemsley

Kemsley (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Swale Ind.	Derek Carnell*	476	47.7	−2
	Labour	Ashley Wise	357	35.8	+12
	Conservative	Sue Gent	356	35.7	+6
	Conservative	Mike Dendor*	322	32.3	−6
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Clark	236	23.7	+6
Majority
Turnout			997
	Swale Ind. hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Milton Regis

Milton Regis (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anthony Winckless*	674	65.4	+13
	Labour	Angelica Valls	559	54.2	+18
	Swale Ind.	Stephen Davey*	303	29.4	−7
	Conservative	David Danaher	186	18.0	−2
	Conservative	Stuart Williams	166	16.1	+2
Majority
Turnout			1,031
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Swale Ind.		Swing

Minster Cliffs

Minster Cliffs (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Swale Ind.	Tom Nundy	656	40.5	−12
	Conservative	Andy Booth	561	34.6	±0
	Conservative	Ken Ingleton*	554	34.2	−2
	Conservative	Hollie Bolitho	466	28.7	−10
	Independent	Richard Darby*	457	28.2	−25
	Labour	Libby Tucker	396	24.4	+7
	Green	Josie Galvin	276	17.0	−6
	Reform UK	Will Fotheringham-Bray	163	10.1	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,621
	Swale Ind. gain from Independent		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Murston

Murston (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Swale Ind.	James Hall*	593	57.7	+1
	Labour	Mark Last	397	38.6	+15
	Conservative	Ann Hampshire*	211	20.5	−4
	Conservative	Glen Le Grys	171	16.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Alexander Stennings	139	13.5	+4
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Zeng	127	12.4	N/A
	Green	Miriam Layton	119	11.6	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,028
	Swale Ind. hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Priory

Priory

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Henderson	394	54.6	+3.8
	Conservative	Andy Culham	174	24.1	−5.0
	Labour	Rob Crayford	98	13.6	+1.9
	Green	Sonia Jackson	55	7.6	+0.1
Majority
Turnout			721
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Queenborough and Halfway

Queenborough & Halfway (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ashley Shiel	603	40.6	+7
	Conservative	Peter Marchington*	586	39.5	−7
	Conservative	Mike Whiting	522	35.2	−19
	Labour	Donna Boakes	508	34.2	+4
	Conservative	Bailey Allison	498	33.5	−11
	Labour	Jordan Hartley	462	31.1	N/A
	Swale Ind.	Lorraine St. John	293	19.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Brinklow	227	15.3	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,485
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Roman

Roman (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tim Gibson*	652	58.6	+1
	Labour	Karen Watson	535	48.1	−5
	Conservative	Mark Quinton	300	27.0	−14
	Conservative	Alfred Okotie	266	23.9	−7
	Green	Debra Blacklock	167	15.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Rosemary Madgwick	134	12.0	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,113
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Sheerness

Sheerness (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Angela Harrison*	727	52.9	+9
	Labour	Hayden Brawn	612	44.5	+6
	Labour	Dolley White	573	41.7	+6
	Conservative	Patricia Rogers	394	28.7	+6
	Independent	Lee McCall*	382	27.8	−18
	Reform UK	Jeffrey Williams	205	14.9	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,374
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Sheppey Central

Sheppey Central (3 seas)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Swale Ind.	Elliott Jayes*	794	51.7	−10
	Conservative	Peter Neal*	409	26.6	−1
	Conservative	Mark Tucker	389	25.3	−5
	Labour	Ian Edworthy	362	23.6	+3
	Conservative	Oliver Eakin	360	23.4	+3
	Labour	Alan Henry	333	21.7	N/A
	Independent	Peter MacDonald*	298	19.4	−11
	Green	Sam Banks	200	13.0	−10
	Liberal Democrats	Edward Currie	200	13.0	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Mad Mike Young	161	10.5	−9
Majority
Turnout			1,537
	Swale Ind. hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Sheppey East

Sheppey East (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lee-Anne Moore	347	34.8	+2
	Conservative	Tara Noe	315	31.6	+3
	Labour	Matt Wheatcroft	226	22.7	+7
	Independent	Pat Sandle	215	21.6	N/A
	Independent	Gaynor Bidgood	191	19.2	N/A
	Green	David Walton	129	13.0	N/A
	Reform UK	Mini Nissanga*	108	10.8	−26
	Independent	Bill Tatton*	103	10.3	−31
Majority
Turnout			996
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing
	Conservative gain from Reform UK		Swing

St Ann's

St Ann's (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Carole Jackson*	846	48.4	+7
	Labour	Kieran Golding	765	43.7	+7
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Gibson	448	25.6	−4
	Liberal Democrats	Josh Rowlands	444	25.4	−1
	Conservative	Ben Fisher	398	22.8	−11
	Conservative	Frankie O'Brien	363	20.8	−8
	Reform UK	Seb Arrowsmith-Brown	93	5.3	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,749
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Teynham and Lynsted

Teynham & Lynsted (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lloyd Brown*	764	54.1	+12
	Conservative	Julien Speed	666	47.1	+14
	Green	Janet Bott	506	35.8	+17
	Labour	Georgina Jessiman	344	24.3	+7
	Liberal Democrats	Dorothee Barker	135	9.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Morris	113	8.0	−1
Majority
Turnout			1,413
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

The Meads

The Meads

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Hunt*	395	68.2	+12.0
	Liberal Democrats	Shaun Wakelen	184	31.8	N/A
Majority
Turnout			579
	Conservative hold		Swing

Watling

Watling (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Martin*	1,009	51.7	−7
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Martin	830	42.5	−14
	Conservative	Jack Goodenough	496	25.4	−5
	Conservative	Jess Valentine	465	23.8	−3
	Labour	Robert Newman	350	17.9	+4
	Labour	James Scott	300	15.4	N/A
	Green	Oliver Heyen	298	15.3	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,952
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

West Downs

West Downs

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Monique Bonney*	655	75.3	−11.6
	Conservative	Margaret Benford	155	17.8	+4.7
	Liberal Democrats	Kris Barker	60	6.9	N/A
Majority
Turnout			870
	Independent hold		Swing

Woodstock

Woodstock (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Swale Ind.	Sarah Stephen*	830	53.8
	Swale Ind.	Paul Stephen*	750	48.6
	Conservative	Lee Burgess	584	37.9
	Labour	James Beer	328	21.3
Majority
Turnout			1,542
	Swale Ind. hold		Swing
	Swale Ind. hold		Swing

By-elections

Minster Cliffs

Minster Cliffs by-election, 14 September 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Swale Ind.	Peter MacDonald	395	35.8
	Labour	Edward Baldwin	339	30.7
	Conservative	Oliver Eakin	331	30.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ernest Currie	39	3.5
Majority			56	5.1
Turnout			1,104	17.9
	Swale Ind. gain from Conservative		Swing

The Minster Cliffs by-election was triggered by the death of Conservative councillor Ken Ingleton in July 2023.^[9][10]

Abbey

Abbey by-election: 14 December 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Gibson	435	44.8
	Green	Carol Goatham	173	17.8
	Labour	Rob Crayford	172	17.7
	Conservative	Andy Culham	154	15.9
	Reform UK	William Fotheringham-Bray	36	3.7
Majority			262	27.0
Turnout			970	24.6
Registered electors			4,105
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Abbey by-election triggered by the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Williams

Priory

Priory: 3 September 2024^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Eyre	316	42.5	–12.1
	Reform UK	Jess Valentine	200	26.9	N/A
	Conservative	Jack Goodenough	153	20.6	–3.5
	Labour	John Griffin	74	10.0	–3.6
Majority			116	15.6
Turnout			745	29.3
Registered electors			2,543
	Liberal Democrats hold

Priory by-election triggered by the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Michael Henderson.

Murston

Murston: 21 November 2024^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Swale Ind.	Carrie Pollard	269	34.5	–6.1
	Labour	Rakel Eseku	229	29.4	+2.2
	Reform UK	Ian Bobbett	139	17.8	N/A
	Conservative	Mariusz Bencych	116	14.9	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Alexander Stennings	26	3.3	–6.2
Majority			40	5.1	N/A
Turnout			779
	Swale Ind. hold

Murston by-election triggered by the disqualification of Swale Independents councillor James Hall.

Milton Regis

Milton Regis: 19 December 2024^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform UK	Kieran Mishchuk	272	33.9	N/A
	Swale Ind.	Tom Lee	208	25.9	–0.2
	Labour	Nicola Nelson	200	24.9	–33.1
	Conservative	Islay Walker	99	12.3	–3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Marc Wilson	23	2.9	N/A
Majority			64	8.0	N/A
Turnout			802
	Reform UK gain from Labour

Milton Regis by-election triggered by the resignation of Labour councillor Angelica Valls.