2023 Cannock Chase District Council election

2023 English local election

← 2022

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)

2024 →

17 out of 41 seats to Cannock Chase District Council
21 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Olivia Lyons	Tony Johnson
Party	Conservative	Labour	Green
Last election	25 seats, 42.1%	8 seats, 38.0%	2 seats, 6.1%
Seats before	22	12	2
Seats won	4	9	4
Seats after	18	17	5
Seat change	4	5	3
Popular vote	6,626	9,269	3,352
Percentage	32.1%	44.9%	16.2%
Swing	10.0%	6.9%	10.1%

	Fourth party	Fifth party	Sixth party

Party	Liberal Democrats	Independent	Chase Indies
Last election	2 seats, 2.7%	1 seats, 0.9%	3 seats, 9.6%
Seats before	2	1	2
Seats won	0	0	0
Seats after	1	0	0
Seat change	1	1	2
Popular vote	434	965	n/a
Percentage	2.1%	4.7%	n/a
Swing	0.6%	3.8%	n/a

Winner of each seat at the 2023 Cannock Chase District Council election

Leader before election

Olivia Lyons
Conservative

Leader after election

Tony Johnson
Labour
No overall control

The 2023 Cannock Chase District election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect 17 of the 41 councillors on Cannock Chase District Council in Staffordshire, England. on the same day as other local elections in England, including to eight parish councils in the district. The usual nominal third of the council (15 seats, one from each ward) was up for election, plus there were two vacancies to be filled, meaning a total of 17 councillors were elected.

The council was under Conservative majority control prior to the election. The election saw the council go under no overall control, and a coalition of Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat coalition subsequently formed to run the council.

Background

At the previous 2022 election in Cannock Chase, the Conservatives retained the seats they were defending and gained one from Labour, increasing their overall majority. At the 2023 election, they were defending seven seats which they won at the 2019 election. Labour were looking to make gains for the first time since 2016 after being reduced to eight seats, their lowest ever seat total, at the 2022 election. Localist party the Chase Community Independent Group did not put up any candidates at this election; the Green Party were hoping to regain seats in the Hednesford area which they had held before the Chase Indies' formation in 2020. The Liberal Democrats were looking to retain one of two seats they held in the Brereton and Ravenhill ward; they did not field candidates in any other wards.

There had been substantial changes to the makeup of the council since the May 2022 election. Four Conservative councillors had resigned from the council whilst another had defected to Labour; the Conservatives successfully defended their Cannock West seat but lost the Hednesford North and Etching Hill and the Heath by-elections to Labour. This reduced their total from 25 councillors to 21. Meanwhile, the leader of the Chase Community Independent Group resigned his Hednesford South seat shortly before the election was called. This, along with a last minute Conservative resignation in Cannock East, resulted in there being two councillors elected in two of the council's wards.

The outcome of the election was a decisive shift to Labour, with them picking up the highest number of votes and seats for the first time since the 2016 election. Labour gained three seats from the Conservatives, one from the Liberal Democrats, and regained a seat in Cannock North which had been held by a former Labour independent councillor. This boosted their seat count from 12 just before the election to 17. The Conservatives saw their vote share drop by 10% for the second year in a row, leading to them losing three seats and their overall majority. They remained the largest party by a single seat. The Greens regained three seats in Hednesford which had been held by former Green councillors, leaving them with the five seats they had following the 2019 election. The Liberal Democrats lost to Labour in their one remaining ward, reducing them to one seat for the second time in the council's history.

Across the district, there was a substantial 9.7% swing to Labour compared to 2019; compared to 2022, the swing to Labour was a slightly smaller 8.5%.

Following the election a coalition of Labour, the Greens and the Liberal Democrat formed, with Labour group leader Tony Johnson being appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 24 May 2023.

Summary

Election result

The overall results were:

2023 Cannock Chase District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	9	5	60.0	8	17	41.5	9,269	44.9	6.9
	Conservative	4	3	26.7	14	18	43.9	6,626	32.1	10.0
	Green	4	3	26.7	1	5	12.2	3,352	16.2	10.1
	Liberal Democrats	0	1	0.0	1	1	2.4	434	2.1	0.6
	Independent	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	965	4.7	3.8

Council Composition

Prior to the election, the composition of the council was:

↓
21	12	2	2	1	1	2
Conservative	Labour	LD	Grn	CI	Ind	Vac

After the election, the composition of the council was:

↓
18	17	5	1
Conservative	Labour	Greens	LD

Ward results

Vote share changes are based on the results achieved by parties in 2019 when these seats were last contested.

Brereton and Ravenhill

Brereton and Ravenhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Carl Boulton	672	47.6	10.1
	Liberal Democrats	Gerald Molineux	434	30.7	12.2
	Conservative	Melanie Frew	306	21.7	2.1
Majority			238	16.9	N/A
Turnout			1,412	27.0	0.4
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	11.2

Cannock East

Cannock East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Johnson	739	59.1	17.0
	Labour	Fred Prestwood	622	49.7	7.6
	Conservative	Gary Millward	408	32.6	8.6
	Green	Arlene Carmichael	142	11.4	2.4
	Green	Melody Donnallie	142	11.4	2.4
Turnout			1,255	23.5	2.6
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

There were two seats up for election in this ward due to the resignation of Conservative councillor Johnny McMahon in March 2023.

Ward Summary
Party		Votes	% Votes	±%	Seats	Change
	Labour	1,361	66.3	24.2	2	1
	Conservative	408	19.9	4.1	0	1
	Green	284	13.8	4.8	0

Cannock North

Cannock North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paula Stanton	642	57.3	3.8
	Conservative	David Guy	268	23.9	0.4
	Independent	Paul Carnell	126	11.2	N/A
	Green	Richard Jenking	85	7.6	15.4
Majority			384	33.4	3.4
Turnout			1,121	21.1	1.2
	Labour hold		Swing	1.7

Cannock South

Cannock South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jeff Hill	651	46.1	7.4
	Conservative	Paul Snape	537	38.1	6.1
	Green	Eloise Cropp	142	10.1	1.6
	Independent	David Hyden	81	5.7	N/A
Majority			114	8.0	1.3
Turnout			1,411	23.4	1.1
	Labour hold		Swing	0.7

Cannock West

Cannock West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Val Jones	976	57.6	5.1
	Labour	Natalie Hill	537	31.7	10.9
	Green	Maire Smith	182	10.7	5.7
Majority			439	25.9	16.1
Turnout			1,695	30.3	0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.0

Etching Hill and the Heath

Etching Hill and the Heath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mike Sutherland	675	52.2	7.8
	Labour	Daniel Foceac	470	36.3	18.0
	Green	Carl Harwatt	149	11.5	10.2
Majority			205	15.9	22.4
Turnout			1,294	25.6	1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	12.9

Hagley

Hagley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	David Williams	488	63.0	26.0
	Conservative	Julia Kenny	164	21.2	20.2
	Independent	Alan Dudson	72	9.3	N/A
	Green	Kenny Beardmore	51	6.6	15.0
Majority			324	41.8	N/A
Turnout			775	23.0	0.5
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing	23.1

Hawks Green

Hawks Green
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adrienne Fitzgerald	618	50.7	7.0
	Labour	Dale Bilbie	456	37.4	20.6
	Green	David Green	146	12.0	1.9
Majority			162	13.3	13.6
Turnout			1,220	22.9	0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.8

Heath Hayes East & Wimblebury

Heath Hayes East & Wimblebury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julie Aston	547	47.2	17.0
	Conservative	Samantha Thompson	507	43.8	6.7
	Green	Stuart Kennedy	104	9.0	0.7
Majority			40	3.4	N/A
Turnout			1,158	24.5	0.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	5.2

Hednesford Green Heath

Hednesford Green Heath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mandy Dunnett ^	598	53.8	20.9
	Conservative	Laura Harrison	408	36.7	2.6
	Independent	Ron Turville	106	9.5	3.1
Majority			190	17.1	N/A
Turnout			1,112	19.7	4.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	9.2

^ Mandy Dunnett was the sitting councillor for the Hednesford North ward. She switched to the Hednesford Green Heath ward after defecting to Labour.

Hednesford North

Hednesford North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Darrell Mawle	464	38.5	3.2
	Labour	Paul Witton	416	34.5	3.2
	Conservative	Marie Taylor	219	18.2	8.8
	Independent	Arthur Roden	107	8.9	N/A
Majority			48	4.0	6.0
Turnout			1,299	24.7	0.3
	Green hold		Swing	3.2

Although this was a notional Green hold compared to 2019, in current seat terms it was a Green gain from Labour due to the previous defection of the sitting councillor, Mandy Dunnett, to Labour.

Hednesford South

Hednesford South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Liz Bishop	464	39.0	21.7
	Green	Mandi Boyer	388	32.6	28.1
	Conservative	Phil Hewitt	353	29.7	2.0
	Labour	Bob Heighway	319	26.8	15.2
	Labour	Steve Thornley	293	24.6	13.4
	Independent	Andrea Beach ^	197	16.6	N/A
	Independent	Chris Harborow	170	14.3	N/A
Turnout			1,193	28.0	1.8
	Green hold		Swing	3.2
	Green gain from Chase Indies		Swing

^ Andrea Beach was the sitting councillor for the Cannock North ward. She switched to the Hednesford South ward after defecting from Labour to the Chase Community Independent Group, and latterly sitting as an independent.

There were two seats up for election in this ward due to the resignation of Chase Community Independent Group leader Paul Woodhead in March 2023.

Although one of these seats was a notional Green hold compared to 2019, in current seat terms it was a Green gain from the Chase Community Independent Group due to the previous defection of the sitting councillor, Stuart Crabtree, from the Greens.

Ward Summary
Party		Votes	% Votes	±%	Seats	Change
	Green	852	39.1	21.6	2	1
	Labour	609	27.9	16.3	0
	Independent	367	16.8	N/A	0
	Conservative	353	16.2	11.5	0

Norton Canes

Norton Canes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Josh Newbury	1,069	66.9	21.9
	Conservative	Tim Clapham	357	22.4	9.3
	Independent	Sean Butler	106	6.6	N/A
	Green	Stuart Crabtree	65	4.1	1.3
Majority			712	44.5	31.2
Turnout			1,597	24.2	4.2
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	15.6

Rawnsley

Rawnsley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Andrea Muckley	715	69.8	14.0
	Conservative	Thomas Yaxley	174	17.0	9.4
	Labour	Les Bullock	135	13.2	0.1
Majority			541	52.8	23.4
Turnout			1,024	28.3	5.5
	Green hold		Swing	11.7

Western Springs

Western Springs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pam Owen	656	47.4	6.9
	Labour	David Gaye	615	44.4	18.3
	Green	Warren Cocker	113	8.2	11.4
Majority			41	3.0	25.2
Turnout			1,384	26.9	0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	12.6

Changes 2023–2024

Paul Fisher, elected as a Liberal Democrat in 2022, left the party in August 2023, leaving the party with no councillors. He subsequently joined Labour later in 2023.

References

Including one vacant seat held by Conservative councillor John McMahon prior to his resignation in March 2023.
Including one vacant seat in Hednesford South ward previously held by Chase Community Independents Group councillor Paul Woodhead. The party did not put up any candidates in 2023 and was de-registered with the Electoral Commission the month after this election.

^ Boothroyd, David (24 March 2023). "Tory hold in a rush in Northants". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
"Chase Community Independents Group". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
"District Election Results 2023". Cannock Chase District Council. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
Lawson, Eleanor (25 May 2023). "Labour forms coalition with Greens and Lib Dems in Cannock Chase to run council". Express and Star. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
"Full Cannock Chase Council election results with no clear majority". Express & Star. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
"Council minutes, 24 May 2023" (PDF). 27 December 2023.
"Cannock Chase election result". BBC News. May 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
"Your Councillors". Cannock Chase District Council. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
Boothroyd, David (18 August 2023). "Boro not as red as it seems". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
"Your District Councillors" (PDF). Cannock Chase District Council. December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.

(2022 ←)

2023 United Kingdom local elections (→ 2024)

England

Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Bolton Bradford Bury Calderdale Coventry Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
Unitary authorities	Bath and North East Somerset Bedford Blackburn with Darwen Blackpool Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Bracknell Forest Brighton and Hove Central Bedfordshire Cheshire East Cheshire West and Chester Darlington Derby East Riding of Yorkshire Halton Hartlepool Herefordshire Hull Leicester Luton Medway Middlesbrough Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire North Somerset Nottingham Peterborough Plymouth Portsmouth Reading Redcar and Cleveland Rutland Slough South Gloucestershire Southampton Southend-on-Sea Stockton-on-Tees Stoke-on-Trent Swindon Telford and Wrekin Thurrock Torbay West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham York
Non-metropolitan districts	Amber Valley Arun Ashfield Ashford Babergh Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Blaby Bolsover Boston Braintree Breckland Brentwood Broadland Bromsgrove Broxbourne Broxtowe Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Canterbury Castle Point Charnwood Chelmsford Cherwell Chesterfield Chichester Chorley Colchester Cotswold Crawley Dacorum Dartford Derbyshire Dales Dover East Cambridgeshire East Devon East Hampshire East Hertfordshire East Lindsey East Staffordshire East Suffolk Eastbourne Eastleigh Elmbridge Epping Forest Epsom and Ewell Erewash Exeter Fenland Folkestone & Hythe Forest of Dean Fylde Gedling Gravesham Great Yarmouth Guildford Harborough Harlow Hart Havant Hertsmere High Peak Hinckley and Bosworth Horsham Hyndburn Ipswich King's Lynn and West Norfolk Lancaster Lewes Lichfield Lincoln Maidstone Maldon Malvern Hills Mansfield Melton Mid Devon Mid Suffolk Mid Sussex Mole Valley New Forest Newark and Sherwood North Devon North East Derbyshire North Hertfordshire North Kesteven North Norfolk North Warwickshire North West Leicestershire Norwich Oadby and Wigston Pendle Preston Redditch Reigate and Banstead Ribble Valley Rochford Rossendale Rother Rugby Runnymede Rushcliffe Rushmoor Sevenoaks South Derbyshire South Hams South Holland South Kesteven South Norfolk South Oxfordshire South Ribble South Staffordshire Spelthorne St Albans Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Surrey Heath Swale Tamworth Tandridge Teignbridge Tendring Test Valley Tewkesbury Thanet Three Rivers Tonbridge and Malling Torridge Tunbridge Wells Uttlesford Vale of White Horse Warwick Watford Waverley Wealden Welwyn Hatfield West Devon West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire West Suffolk Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wychavon Wyre Wyre Forest
Mayoral	Bedford Leicester Mansfield Middlesbrough

Northern Ireland

v t e Council elections in Staffordshire
Staffordshire County Council	1889 1892 1895 1898 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Cannock Chase District Council	1973 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
East Staffordshire Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Lichfield District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2022
South Staffordshire District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Stafford Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Stoke-on-Trent City Council	1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2015 2019 2023
Tamworth Borough Council	1973 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
See also: Wards Boundary changes

Categories: