2023 Thanet District Council election

The 2023 Thanet District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Thanet District Council in Kent, England.^[1][2] This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

2023 Thanet District Council election

← 2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 56 seats to Thanet District Council 29 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Rick Everitt Ash Ashbee Party Labour Conservative Green Last election 20 25 3 Seats after 30 17 5 Seat change 10 8 2   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Thanet Ind. Independent Last election 7 1 Seats after 3 1 Seat change 4
Winner of each seat
Leader before election Ash Ashbee Conservative No overall control Leader after election Rick Everitt Labour

The council was under no overall control prior to the election, being led by Conservative councillor Ash Ashbee. Labour won a majority of the seats. Ash Ashbee lost her seat.^[3][4] Labour group leader Rick Everitt was appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 18 May 2023.^[5]

Summary

The overall results were:^[6]

Election result

2023 Thanet District Council Election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	56	30	11	1	10	53.6	40.4	29,134	+9.8
	Conservative	51	17	0	8	8	30.4	32.4	23,402	-5.7
	Green	30	5	2	0	2	8.9	15.8	11,418	-0.3
	Thanet Independents	14	3	1	5	4	5.4	6.7	4,854	-3.1
	Independent	8	1	1	1		1.8	3.2	2,302	-1.1
	Liberal Democrats	5	0	0	0		0.0	1.1	767	-4.7
	Reform UK	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.4	288	N/A

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Thanet District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.^[7] The results for each ward were as follows:^[8][9]

Beacon Road

Beacon Road (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jenny Matterface	694	60.5	+26.4
	Labour	Joanne Bright	620	54.0	+20.8
	Conservative	Charlie Leys*	311	27.1	−3.3
	Independent	Aram Rawf*	184	16.0	−18.1
	Conservative	Barbara Young	176	15.3	−19.3
	Green	Tina Gull	99	8.6	N/A
Turnout			1,148	34
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Birchington North

Birchington North (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Kup**	908	64.2	+1.8
	Conservative	Reece Pugh	873	61.7	+5.4
	Thanet Ind.	David Hart	384	10.9	N/A
	Thanet Ind.	Simon Day*	382	27.0	−35.4
	Labour	Colin Brown	379	26.8	+5.9
	Green	Lucy Williams	328	23.2	−12.5
	Labour	Mario Portelli	262	18.5	N/A
Turnout			1,415	43
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

George Kup was a sitting councillor in Birchington South

Birchington South

Birchington South (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Phil Fellows*	814	53.3	+7.4
	Conservative	Linda Wright*	726	47.6	+0.3
	Conservative	Emma Dawson	699	45.8	+0.3
	Labour	Colin Harvey	336	22.0	+3.0
	Labour	David Ross	336	22.0	N/A
	Independent	Paul Holton	273	17.9	N/A
	Thanet Ind.	Glyn Parry	269	17.6	N/A
	Labour	Anne Reszetniak	269	17.6	N/A
	Green	Terry Macdonald	256	16.8	N/A
Turnout			1,526	30
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bradstowe

Bradstowe (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Rusiecki	525	41.0	−5.9
	Conservative	Jill Bayford*	524	40.9	−9.5
	Green	Steve Roberts	510	39.8	+13.4
	Labour	Kay Dark	329	25.7	+0.6
	Labour	Meg Harvey	326	25.4	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Stone	149	11.6	−5.0
Turnout			1,282	40
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Central Harbour (Ramsgate)

Central Harbour (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Raushan Ara*	1,157	60.4	+12.4
	Green	Becky Wing*	936	48.9	+8.5
	Green	Tricia Austin*	852	44.5	N/A
	Labour	Diane Heath	743	38.8	−7.6
	Labour	Gita Sahni	712	37.2	+7.8
	Conservative	John Penny	297	15.5	−2.8
	Conservative	Andrew Chard	281	14.7	−2.3
	Conservative	Toby Taylor	279	14.6	+0.7
Turnout			1,915	31
	Labour hold		Swing
	Green gain from Labour		Swing
	Green hold		Swing

Cliffsend & Pegwell

Cliffsend & Pegwell (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brenda Rogers*	571	40.5	−4.3
	Conservative	John Davis	516	36.6	−4.6
	Green	Vitas Bowyer	374	26.5	+4.4
	Green	Tim Spencer	329	23.3	N/A
	Labour	Peter Heath	278	19.7	+1.2
	Labour	Laurie Hudson	265	18.8	+3.1
	Independent	Grahame Birchall	223	15.8	−3.4
	Thanet Ind.	Beryl Harrison	135	9.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Wright	45	3.2	N/A
Turnout			1,409	35
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cliftonville East

Cliftonville East (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Manners	985	54.2	−10.9
	Conservative	Marc Rattigan	912	50.2	−7.4
	Conservative	Cedric Towning*	852	46.9	−5.8
	Labour	Donald Challinger	586	32.2	+7.4
	Green	Jessica Lauren	541	29.8	N/A
	Labour	Barbara McCulloch	534	29.4	+6.7
	Labour	Barry Lewis	511	28.1	+7.0
Turnout			1,818	35
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cliftonville West

Cliftonville West (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Currie*	972	61.3	+14.9
	Labour	Heather Keen*	901	56.8	+13.8
	Labour	Harry Scobie*	872	55.0	+12.4
	Green	Matt Shoul	560	35.3	+7.0
	Conservative	Nickie Holding	278	17.5	+1.8
	Conservative	Avril Towning	270	17.0	+3.6
	Conservative	Ross Holding	246	15.5	+0.1
	Thanet Ind.	Gary-Paul Derriman	170	10.7	−10.2
Turnout			1,585	27
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Dane Valley

Dane Valley (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ruth Duckworth*	754	59.1	+26.9
	Labour	Jack Packman	719	56.4	+27.6
	Labour	Martin Boyd	709	55.6	+25.0
	Conservative	Mike Smith	336	26.4	−3.5
	Green	Chris Newman	333	26.1	N/A
	Thanet Ind.	David Wallin*	296	23.2	−23.3
Turnout			1,275	24
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Thanet Ind.		Swing
	Labour gain from Thanet Ind.		Swing

Eastcliff

Eastcliff (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Helen Crittenden*	811	59.4	+14.4
	Labour	Corinna Huxley*	775	56.7	+14.2
	Labour	Steve Albon*	741	54.2	+7.7
	Green	Tony Uden	445	32.6	−6.7
	Conservative	Peter Sindin	304	22.3	+2.8
	Conservative	Gerry O'Donnell	291	21.3	+2.0
	Conservative	Morgan Harris	290	21.2	+3.2
Turnout			1,366	25
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Garlinge

Garlinge (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Thanet Ind.	John Worrow	581	53.6	+19.2
	Thanet Ind.	John Dennis*	509	47.0	+1.0
	Conservative	Kerry Boyd*	253	23.4	−16.3
	Labour	Maria Castellina	239	22.1	+4.3
	Labour	Stephen Fenning	199	18.4	+2.4
	Green	Bernard Kirkham	108	10.0	N/A
Turnout			1,083	29
	Thanet Ind. hold		Swing
	Thanet Ind. gain from Conservative		Swing

Kingsgate

Kingsgate (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Alan Munns	366	49.8	N/A
	Conservative	Robert Bayford	241	32.8	−34.6
	Labour	Howard Green	128	17.4	−15.2
Turnout			735	42
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Margate Central

Margate Central (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Helen Whitehead*	504	60.1	+6.8
	Labour	Robert Yates*	481	57.3	+7.4
	Green	Alanna McGill-Tagg	245	29.2	+10.0
	Conservative	Barry Millen	154	18.4	+3.5
	Independent	John Finnegan	138	16.4	N/A
Turnout			839	22
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Nethercourt

Nethercourt (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anne-Marie Nixey*	574	50.7	+6.6
	Labour	David Green	547	48.3	+12.7
	Conservative	Michael Crees	299	26.4	−4.4
	Conservative	Seth Stephenson	261	23.1	−4.0
	Green	Michelle Thomas	221	19.5	−2.1
	Reform UK	James Hose	195	17.2	N/A
Turnout			1,132	32
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Newington

Newington (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pat Moore	414	59.0	+4.8
	Labour	Rick Everett*	393	56.0	+8.0
	Conservative	Trevor Shonk*	214	30.5	+5.8
	Conservative	Ben Harris	194	27.6	+3.8
	Green	Phil Shotton	94	13.4	−14.1
Turnout			702	19
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Northwood

Northwood (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Driver	563	46.4	+15.1
	Labour	Will Scobie	554	45.6	+14.6
	Labour	Debra Owen-Hughes	553	45.6	+16.7
	Conservative	Keith Clark	312	25.7	+3.5
	Conservative	David Spicer	282	23.2	+5.5
	Conservative	Sandra Spicer	278	22.9	+5.4
	Thanet Ind.	Stuart Piper*	270	22.2	−21.3
	Thanet Ind.	Lynda Piper*	264	21.7	−20.0
	Thanet Ind.	Christina Collins	230	18.9	−16.9
	Green	Mike White	119	9.8
Turnout			1,214	25
	Labour gain from Thanet Ind.		Swing
	Labour gain from Thanet Ind.		Swing
	Labour gain from Thanet Ind.		Swing

Salmestone

Salmestone (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Katie Pope	491	53.9	+22.0
	Labour	Leo Britcher	470	51.6	+22.5
	Conservative	Lisa Shearer	328	36.0	+9.0
	Green	Fi O'Connor	214	23.5	N/A
Turnout			911	23
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Sir Moses Montefiore

Sir Moses Montefiore (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pat Makinson*	452	41.5	+3.2
	Labour	Tony Ovenden	449	41.2	+3.8
	Green	Clara Gibson	377	34.6	N/A
	Green	Andy Stevens	350	32.1	N/A
	Conservative	Marion Astley	250	22.9	−2.6
	Conservative	Daphne Sharp	222	20.4	−3.1
Turnout			1,090	31
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

St Peters

St Peters (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Mike Garner*	849	46.3	+6.3
	Conservative	Paul Moore	664	36.2	−9.7
	Green	Kevin Pressland	664	36.2	N/A
	Conservative	Roy Dexter*	614	33.5	−13.2
	Conservative	Ahsan Ashfaq	595	32.4	−7.3
	Labour	Jason Evers	470	25.6	−4.3
	Labour	David Cooper	440	24.0	−3.7
	Labour	Mathew Thomas	381	20.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Gail Banks	215	11.7	−7.9
Turnout			1,834	34
	Green hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing

Thanet Villages

Thanet Villages (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sam Bambridge**	733	44.5	+7.5
	Conservative	Abi-Leigh Barlow	672	40.8	+5.9
	Green	Abi Smith*	658	40.0	+5.3
	Green	Andy Isbister	522	31.7	N/A
	Conservative	Karina Pugh	520	31.6	+4.9
	Green	Thea Barrett	496	30.1	N/A
	Labour	Jane Hetherington	266	16.2	+3.3
	Labour	Sue Gyde	247	15.0	N/A
	Labour	Maggie Nash	225	13.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Deborah Holmes	130	7.9	−25.0
	Independent	Andy Local	130	7.9	N/A
Turnout			1,646	27
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Green hold		Swing

Sam Bambridge was a sitting councillor in Westgate-on-Sea

Viking

Viking (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roopa Farooki	863	39.6	+9.6
	Labour	Kristian Bright	786	36.0	+10.4
	Conservative	John Nichols	786	36.0	−2.0
	Conservative	Michael Bridges	783	35.9	−1.0
	Labour	Elvira Orhan	700	32.1	N/A
	Independent	Ruth Brackstone Bailey*	657	30.1	−7.1
	Conservative	Horace Shrubb	636	29.1	−7.8
	Green	Will Jarman	450	20.6	−8.1
	Liberal Democrats	David Banks	228	10.4	−3.1
Turnout			2,182	39
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Westbrook

Westbrook (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Elysa D'Abbro	451	44.5	+21.2
	Labour	John Edwards	385	38.0	+16.0
	Conservative	Ash Ashbee*	382	37.7	−5.4
	Conservative	David Parsons	283	27.9	−17.0
	Green	Ken Watkins	162	16.0	−11.3
	Thanet Ind.	Mark Bray	160	15.8	N/A
	Reform UK	Amelia Randall	93	9.2	N/A
Turnout			1,013	31
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Westgate-on-Sea

Westgate-on-Sea (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Thanet Ind.	Bertie Braidwood*	789	47.2	+10.4
	Conservative	Matthew Scott*	576	34.4	−3.3
	Labour	David Donaldson	525	31.4	+10.1
	Conservative	Jane Ashbee-Welch	483	28.9	−6.3
	Labour	Nicola Morgan	468	28.0	+6.5
	Thanet Ind.	Peter Evans	415	24.8	N/A
	Conservative	Roger Smythe	364	21.8	−9.3
	Independent	Thomas King	331	19.8	N/A
	Green	Sarah Jarman	326	19.5	−8.2
	Labour	Paul Upex	325	19.4	N/A
Turnout			1,673	31
	Thanet Ind. hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

By-elections

Thanet Villages

Thanet Villages by-election: 1 May 2025

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform UK	Peter Evans	781	37.8	N/A
	Conservative	Ash Ashbee	433	21.0	–17.2
	Thanet Ind.	Ian Driver	407	19.7	N/A
	Green	Will Jarman	204	9.9	–24.4
	Liberal Democrats	Deborah Holmes	116	5.6	–1.2
	Labour	Bryan Harrod	107	5.2	–8.7
	Independent	Grahame Birchall	17	0.8	N/A
Majority			348	16.8	N/A
Turnout			2,092	31.4	+4.4
Registered electors			6,674
	Reform UK gain from Conservative

Garlinge

Garlinge by-election: 30 October 2025

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kerry Boyd
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Brown
	Independent	Ian Driver
	Labour	Bryan Harrod
	Reform UK	Darren Oxborrow
	Green	Deb Shotton