2023 Dover District Council election

2023 UK local government election

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4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)

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All 32 seats to Dover District Council
17 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Kevin Mills	Trevor Bartlett
Party	Labour	Conservative	Independent
Last election	12 seats, 29.0%	19 seats, 43.7%	1 seat, 5.6%
Seats won	17	14	1
Seat change	5	5
Popular vote	22,011	20,449	2,749
Percentage	40.7%	37.8%	5.1%
Swing	11.7%	5.9%	0.5%

Winner of each seat at the 2023 Dover District Council election

Leader before election

Trevor Bartlett
Conservative

Leader after election

Kevin Mills
Labour

The 2023 Dover District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Dover District Council in Kent, England. This was the same day as other local elections.

Summary

The council was under Conservative majority control prior to the election. Labour won a majority of the seats at the election, giving them control of the council for the first time in twenty years. The Labour group leader, Kevin Mills, was appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 17 May 2023.

Election result

2023 Dover District Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	31	17	5	0	5	53.1	40.7	22,011	+11.7
	Conservative	32	14	1	6	5	43.8	37.8	20,449	–5.9
	Independent	8	1	1	1		3.1	5.1	2,749	–0.5
	Liberal Democrats	12	0	0	0		0.0	6.4	3,474	–1.6
	Green	11	0	0	0		0.0	9.1	4,929	–2.4
	Heritage	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.4	230	N/A
	Reform UK	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.4	205	N/A

Ward results

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

Alkham and Capel-le-Ferne

Alkham and Capel-le-Ferne
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Hibbert*	428	49.7	–2.4
	Labour	Bettine Walters	274	31.8	+20.2
	Liberal Democrats	Howard Evans	160	18.6	–17.7
Majority			154	17.9
Turnout			879	33.1	–0.6
Registered electors			2,659
	Conservative hold		Swing	11.3

Buckland

Buckland (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kevin Mills*	692	61.7	+20.6
	Labour	Charlotte Zosseder*	615	54.8	+17.0
	Conservative	Jane Carrole	373	33.2	+1.6
	Conservative	Paul Reynolds	350	31.2	+3.9
Turnout			1,122	21.2	–2.1
Registered electors			5,288
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Aylesham, Eyethorne and Shepherdswell

Aylesham, Eyethorne and Shepherdswell (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Woodgate*	1,423	54.1	+17.5
	Labour	Jamie Pout	1,410	53.6	+13.7
	Labour	Maria Mamjan	1,260	47.9	+13.0
	Conservative	Mary Ann Richardson	630	23.9	–12.4
	Conservative	Roger Livesey	599	22.8	–8.6
	Conservative	Arun Matthew	593	22.5	N/A
	Independent	Derek Garrity	531	20.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Sim	319	12.1	N/A
	Independent	Graham Armstrong	288	10.9	N/A
Turnout			2,631	30.4	–0.7
Registered electors			8,669
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Independent

Dover Downs and River

Dover Downs and River (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Beaney*	845	40.6	–9.4
	Conservative	Mark Rose*	761	36.6	–10.5
	Labour	Ben Cosin	680	32.7	+6.3
	Green	Ashley Tanton	526	25.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Penelope James	525	25.2	–2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Walker-Smith	383	18.4	–4.4
Turnout			2,080	39.1	+4.0
Registered electors			5,323
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Eastry Rural

Eastry Rural (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nick Kenton*	776	41.4	–6.1
	Conservative	Steve Manion*	698	37.2	–8.2
	Green	Peter Findley	645	34.4	–10.7
	Green	Sarah Gleave	615	32.8	N/A
	Labour	David Pestell	380	20.3	–10.5
	Labour	Geoff Hack	369	19.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Cheri Pennington	103	5.5	N/A
Turnout			1,875	39.1	+4.2
Registered electors			4,792
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Guston, Kingsdown and St. Margaret's-at-Cliffe

Guston, Kingsdown and St. Margaret's-at-Cliffe (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Bates*	960	40.1	–12.0
	Conservative	Oliver Richardson*	941	39.3	–2.8
	Green	John Lonsdale	758	31.7	+7.8
	Labour	Maggie Cosin	690	28.8	+9.4
	Labour	Brynley Hawkins	604	25.3	+10.0
	Liberal Democrats	John Gosling	262	11.0	N/A
	Heritage	Sylvia Laidlow-Petersen	230	9.6	N/A
Turnout			2,392	41.3	+2.2
Registered electors			5,788
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Little Stour and Ashstone

Little Stour and Ashstone (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Trevor Bartlett*	1,103	54.4	–3.5
	Conservative	Martin Porter	864	42.6	–11.3
	Labour	John Featherstone	428	21.1	+7.5
	Liberal Democrats	Russell Timpson	401	19.8	+3.9
	Labour	Gillian Weaver	360	17.8	N/A
	Green	Jenny Mathlin	353	17.4	–8.9
	Green	June Sharpe	289	14.3	N/A
Turnout			2,027	35.5	–2.0
Registered electors			5,717
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Maxton and Elms Vale

Maxton and Elms Vale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Nee	398	40.7	+0.1
	Independent	Graham Wanstall	288	29.4	N/A
	Conservative	Callum Warriner	193	19.7	–25.0
	Green	Nick Shread	100	10.2	N/A
Majority			110	11.3
Turnout			994	33.7	+4.6
Registered electors			2,948
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Middle Deal

Middle Deal (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stacey Blair	1,128	56.8	+24.9
	Labour	David Cronk*	1,035	52.1	+15.2
	Conservative	Trevor Bond*	710	35.8	–3.4
	Conservative	Susan Davenport	563	28.3	–4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Headley	252	12.7	+1.9
Turnout			1,986	35.5	+5.0
Registered electors			5,593
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour hold

Mill Hill

Mill Hill (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Helen Williams*	1,074	55.6	+15.5
	Labour	Jeff Loffman	1,018	52.7	+15.2
	Conservative	David Hawkes*	519	26.8	–3.2
	Green	Christine Oliver	496	25.7	–3.1
	Conservative	Chris Burwash	472	24.4	–1.9
Turnout			1,933	32.8	+2.7
Registered electors			5,890
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

North Deal

North Deal (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dan Parks	1,359	58.3	+20.7
	Labour	Sue Beer*	1,357	58.2	+15.8
	Conservative	Peter Jull*	896	38.5	–0.7
	Conservative	John Morgan	729	31.3	–6.9
Turnout			2,330	40.8	+3.6
Registered electors			5,705
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour hold

Sandwich

Sandwich (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Mark Moorhouse	945	45.9	*N/A*
	Conservative	Daniel Friend*	823	40.0	–2.8
	Conservative	Harry Sampson	701	34.1	–8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Martyn Pennington	442	21.5	+3.5
	Labour	Paul Louis	336	16.3	–0.7
	Labour	Martin Garside	333	16.2	+1.0
Turnout			2,058	39.1	–1.2
Registered electors			5,263
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

St. Radigund's

St. Radigund's (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynne Wright	464	46.5	+3.7
	Labour	Gordon Cowan	433	43.4	+11.2
	Independent	James Defriend	339	34.0	N/A
	Conservative	Andy Calder	234	23.5	–3.8
	Conservative	Brenda Collins	233	23.4	–1.0
Turnout			997	21.8	–0.6
Registered electors			4,578
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Pamela Brivio*	465	75.1	+27.9
	Conservative	Ann Jenner	154	24.9	+4.4
Majority			311	50.2
Turnout			634	22.3	–1.6
Registered electors			2,847
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	11.8

Town and Castle

Town and Castle (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Susan Hill	616	42.5	+14.4
	Labour	Edward Biggs*	600	41.4	+18.5
	Conservative	Richard Jeacock	423	29.2	–1.1
	Conservative	Samantha Reynolds	390	26.9	±0.0
	Green	Beccy Sawbridge	238	16.4	–4.2
	Independent	Kay Marsh	207	14.3	N/A
	Independent	Ashley Payne	122	8.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Lynne O'Donoghue	83	5.7	N/A
	Independent	Brian Philp	26	1.8	N/A
Turnout			1,451	25.4	–1.5
Registered electors			5,713
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour hold

Walmer

Walmer (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chris Vinson*	1,023	41.7	–4.3
	Conservative	Derek Murphy*	999	40.7	–0.8
	Green	Mike Eddy	726	29.6	+2.6
	Labour	Amanda Holloway	685	27.9	+8.6
	Labour	Ben Bano	656	26.7	+9.0
	Liberal Democrats	Rick Blackwell	406	16.5	+6.3
Turnout			2,454	42.7	+2.3
Registered electors			5,742
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Whitfield

Whitfield (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Knight	748	47.9	–8.5
	Conservative	Jim Back*	718	46.0	–5.2
	Labour	Claire Hill	462	29.6	+7.9
	Labour	Ruth Harris-Small	407	26.1	+7.5
	Reform UK	Max McGillivray	205	13.1	N/A
	Green	Steph O'Connor	183	11.7	–4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Hope	138	8.8	–7.5
Turnout			1,560	30.0	+0.6
Registered electors			5,209
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

References

"Notice of Poll" (PDF). Dover District Council. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
Lennon, Sam (5 May 2023). "Labour gain 17 seats for overall control of Dover district in 2023 elections". Kent Online. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
Fuller, Christian; Gupta, Tanya (5 May 2023). "Kent election results 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
Esson, Daniel (17 May 2023). "New Labour leader of Dover District Council reveals plans for cabinet". Kent Online. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
"Dover result - Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-05-23.
"STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED" (PDF). Dover District Council. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
"Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Dover District Council. Retrieved 26 September 2023.

v t e Council elections in Kent
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