2023 Wyre Forest District Council election

2023 Wyre Forest District Council election

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
All 33 seats on Wyre Forest District Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Marcus Hart Helen Dyke Leigh Whitehouse Party Conservative Independent Labour Last election 14 seats, 31.6% 5 seats, 10.6% 2 seats, 16.1% Seats before 14 5 2 Seats after 20 6 4 Seat change 6 1 2   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Fran Oborski Party Liberal Democrats Green Health Concern Last election 3 seats, 10.5% 1 seat, 7.7% 8 seats, 17.3% Seats before 3 1 8 Seats after 2 1 0 Seat change 1 8
Leader before election Helen Dyke Independent No overall control Leader after election Marcus Hart Conservative

The 2023 Wyre Forest District Council election took place on 4 May 2023, to elect all 33 members of Wyre Forest District Council in Worcestershire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, being run by a "progressive alliance" of Independent Health Concern, Labour, Green and independent councillors. The Conservatives won a majority of the seats at this election. Wyre Forest was one of only two councils where the Conservatives gained control in the 2023 elections, with the party generally losing seats and councils elsewhere.

Overview

Prior to the election the eight Independent Health Concern councillors, five independent councillors and the one Green councillor had sat together as one "Independent Group", led by independent councillor Helen Dyke. The Independent Group and Labour together formed the council's administration, calling themselves a progressive alliance, with Helen Dyke serving as leader of the council. Local party Independent Health Concern announced in 2022 that it would no longer be fielding candidates at elections; its sitting councillors who chose to stand for re-election in 2023 did so as independent candidates.

The Conservatives and Labour saw gains, whilst the Liberal Democrats and independents (when including the former Independent Health Concern councillors) suffered loses. The only Green councillor retained her seat. Whilst the Conservatives suffered loses throughout the country, in Wyre Forest the Conservatives won a majority of the seats. Torbay and Wyre Forest were the only two councils where the Conservatives gained a majority at this election.

Conservative leader Marcus Hart was appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 17 May 2023.

Results

Results
Party	Seats	Change
Conservative Party	20	6
Independents and Others	6	7
Labour Party	4	2
Liberal Democrats	2	1
Green Party	1

Ward results

Aggborough & Spennells

Aggborough & Spennells 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Helen Elizabeth Dyke*	1,324	64.62%
	Independent	Peter Dyke*	1,213	59.20
	Independent	John Cedric Aston*	1,277	55.73
	Conservative	Owen Boyd Cave	483	23.57
	Labour	George Price	426	20.79
	Conservative	Thomas Jordan	366	17.86
	Conservative	Richard Simon Sherrey	328	16.00
	Liberal Democrats	Rachel Louise Akathiotis	283	13.81%
Turnout			2,057	31.31	−4.83
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Helen Elizabeth Dyke, Peter Dyke and John Cedric Aston were elected.

Areley Kings & Riverside

{{Election box candidate with party

Areley Kings & Riverside 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kenneth James Henderson*	795	45.98%
	Conservative	Daniel Carberry Russell*	656	37.94
	Conservative	Alan Sutton*	562	32.5
	Labour	Carol Gwyneth Warren	519	30.01
	Labour	Nick Bartram-Savage	485	28.05
	Independent	Robert John Lloyd	424	24.52
	Independent	John William Roland Thomas	325	18.80
	Green	Valerie Margaret Wood	307	17.76
	Independent	Jason Foster	288	16.7
	Liberal Democrats	Ingrid Ruth Schmeising-Barnes	186	10.8
Turnout			1,729	27.16
	Conservative gain from Health Concern		Swing
	Conservative gain from Health Concern		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kenneth James Henderson, Daniel Carberry Russell and Alan Sutton were elected.

Offmore & Comberton

Offmore & Comberton 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Mary Oborski*	777	39.2
	Liberal Democrats	Shazu Miah	685	34.6
	Labour	Liam Denzel Peter Carroll	599	30.2
	Liberal Democrats	Nigel John Grace	561	28.3
	Conservative	Rosemary Elizabeth Bishop	548	27.6
	Conservative	William Thomas Hopkins	482	24.3
	Conservative	Martin John Stooke	438	22.1
	Independent	Oliver Swain	438	22.1
	Green	Brett Raymond Caulfield	326	16.4
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats
Turnout			1,982	27.12	−1.55

Frances Mary Oborski, Shazu Miah and Liam Denzel Peter Carroll were elected.