2023 Newcastle City Council election

2023 UK local government election

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4 May 2023

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27 out of 78 seats to Newcastle City Council
40 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party

Leader	Nick Kemp	Colin Ferguson
Party	Labour	Liberal Democrats
Leader's seat	Byker	Gosforth
Last election	51 seats, 44.2%	21 seats, 23.4%
Seats before	50	21
Seats won	14	10
Seats after	48	23
Seat change	3	2
Popular vote	27,688	18,417
Percentage	41.9%	27.8%
Swing	2.3%	4.4%

	Third party	Fourth party

Leader	Tracey Mitchell	N/A
Party	Newcastle Ind.	Independents
Last election	3 seats, 5.7%	3 seats, 4.9%
Seats before	3	3
Seats won	2	1
Seats after	4	3
Seat change	1
Popular vote	3,139	2,766
Percentage	4.7%	4.2%
Swing	1.0%	0.7%

Winner of each seat at the 2023 Newcastle City Council election

Council control before election

Nick Kemp
Labour

Council control after election

Nick Kemp
Labour

The 2023 Newcastle City Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect one third of the members of Newcastle City Council in Tyne & Wear, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England and Wales.

There were 27 of the 78 seats on the council up for election, being the usual third of the council plus a by-election in the North Jesmond ward. The result saw the Labour Party lose three seats with the Liberal Democrats and Newcastle Independents making gains. Labour retained its majority on the council.

Background

Newcastle is a strong council for the Labour Party. Labour controlled the council from its creation in 1973 until 2004, when the Liberal Democrats won a majority on the council. Labour retook control in 2011, and have maintained a majority at every subsequent election.

Until 2022, the Labour council was led by Nick Forbes, who was also the Leader of the Labour group of the Local Government Association. The election marked the end of the first year of Nick Kemp's leadership of Newcastle City Council and as leader of the Labour group.

The seats up for election in 2023 were last contested in 2019.

This was the first election for Colin Ferguson as leader of the Liberal Democrats group, who took over from Nick Cott, and Tracey Mitchell as leader of the Newcastle Independents, who had taken over from Jason Smith.

Election Result

Despite losing three seats, the council remained under Labour majority control. Labour made a net loss of three seats.

Five seats changed hands at this election. The Liberal Democrats gained seats in North Jesmond and West Fenham from Labour. The Newcastle Independents gained two seats from Labour, the Denton and Westerhope ward and the Lemington ward. Despite losing three seats elsewhere on the council, Labour took the seat of Callerton and Throckley from the Newcastle Independents.

Nick Kemp faced a challenge for the council leadership from fellow Labour councillor Ged Bell, who had. Bell had served as a councillor since 1996 and was a member of the council's cabinet under Nick Forbes. This challenge was withdrawn, however, leaving Kemp to return unopposed as leader of the Labour group.

2023 Newcastle City Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	14	3	51.9	34	48	61.5	27,688	41.9	-2.3
	Liberal Democrats	10	2	37.0	13	23	29.5	18,417	27.8	+4.4
	Newcastle Ind.	2	1	7.4	2	4	5.1	3,139	4.7	-1.0
	Independent	1		3.7	2	3	3.8	2,766	4.2	-0.7
	Conservative	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	7,651	11.6	-1.9
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	6,025	9.1	+1.3
	Freedom Alliance	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	235	0.4	+0.3
	SDP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	85	0.1	N/A
	TUSC	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	71	0.1	N/A
	Communist	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	65	0.1	±0.0

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Newcastle City Council following the close of nominations on 4 April 2023.

Arthur's Hill

Arthur's Hill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Joanne Kingsland*	833	69.1	−0.9
	Green	Katie Fletcher	208	17.2	+7.3
	Conservative	Fahim Habibi	107	8.9	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Tahir Siddique	58	4.8	+0.7
Majority			625	51.8	8.3
Turnout			1,206	23.5	6.0
Registered electors			5,128
	Labour hold		Swing	4.1

Benwell and Scotswood

Benwell and Scotswood
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Susan Anthony*	1,636	65.0	+14.5
	Conservative	Jamie Kelly	475	18.9	+9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Hans Christian Anderson	217	8.6	+3.4
	Green	Lee Irving	189	7.5	+2.5
Majority			1,161	46.1	12.8
Turnout			2,517	31.2	1.8
Registered electors			8,079
	Labour hold		Swing	2.4

Blakelaw

Blakelaw
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Linda Hobson*	1,069	59.7	+8.7
	Newcastle Ind.	Sarah Armstrong	295	16.5	New
	Conservative	Lucy Howie	224	12.5	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Bill Shepherd	121	6.8	−5.6
	Green	Jessica Whitaker	82	4.6	−1.8
Majority			774	43.2	13.1
Turnout			1,791	26.1	1.6
Registered electors			6,852
	Labour hold		Swing	3.9

Byker

Byker
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nicholas Kemp*	885	49.4	−5.3
	Green	Nick Hartley	675	37.7	+28.1
	Conservative	Jamie Hampton	127	7.1	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Ridyard	105	5.9	+1.8
Majority			210	11.7	26.3
Turnout			1,792	27.0	4.5
Registered electors			6,644
	Labour hold		Swing	16.7

Callerton and Throckley

Callerton and Throckley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Adam Walker	1,080	41.7	+12.4
	Newcastle Ind.	John Gordon	541	20.9	−13.2
	Conservative	John Dobie	481	18.6	+2.9
	Green	Idwal John	319	12.3	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Morris	169	6.5	−2.8
Majority			539	20.8	16.0
Turnout			2,590	30.6	2.8
Registered electors			8,470
	Labour gain from Newcastle Ind.		Swing	12.8

Castle

Castle
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ali Avaei*	1,369	43.2	+9.1
	Labour Co-op	Andrew Herridge	1,175	37.1	+7.4
	Conservative	Joshua Clark	406	12.8	+0.4
	Green	Andrew Thorp	220	6.9	+1.0
Majority			194	6.1	1.7
Turnout			3,170	29.5	7.1
Registered electors			10,750
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	0.9

Chapel

Chapel
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Margaret Donnelly	2,766	78.8	+5.9
	Labour Co-op	Milo Jasper Barnett	419	11.9	−3.6
	Conservative	Ian Forster	203	5.8	−3.7
	Green	James Milne	62	1.8	New
	Liberal Democrats	Judith Steen	60	1.7	−0.5
Majority			2,347	66.9	15.9
Turnout			3,510	46.8	1.3
Registered electors			7,499
	Independent hold		Swing	4.8

Dene and South Gosforth

Dene and South Gosforth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Henry Gallagher*	1,659	48.2	+3.4
	Labour	Christopher Bartlett	1,221	35.5	+7.5
	Green	Robert Taylor	298	8.7	−4.9
	Conservative	Gerry Langley	262	7.6	0
Majority			438	12.7	4.2
Turnout			3,440	46.9	3.0
Registered electors			7,333
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	2.1

Denton and Westerhope

Denton and Westerhope
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Newcastle Ind.	Adam Mitchell	1,226	45.4	+13.3
	Labour	Bill Purvis	1,093	40.5	+4.1
	Conservative	Alexis Fernandes	187	6.9	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Libby Dicken	109	4.0	+1.0
	Green	Cécile Renaud-Glorieux	83	3.1	New
Majority			133	4.9	0.7
Turnout			2,698	31.7	1.9
Registered electors			8,504
	Newcastle Ind. gain from Labour		Swing	4.6

Elswick

Elswick
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Habib Rahman*	1,383	71.8	−0.2
	Green	Peter Thomson	271	14.1	+2.8
	Conservative	Saamiya Malik	181	9.4	0
	Liberal Democrats	Hamed Aghajani	90	4.7	−2.6
Majority			1,112	57.8	3.0
Turnout			1,925	25.2	7.5
Registered electors			7,635
	Labour hold		Swing	1.5

Fawdon and West Gosforth

Fawdon and West Gosforth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Lovatt*	1,673	58.5	+0.2
	Labour Co-op	Ava Rowell	688	24.1	+1.7
	Conservative	Stephen Axford	295	10.3	+0.7
	Green	Roger Whittaker	204	7.1	−2.6
Majority			985	34.4	1.6
Turnout			2,860	38.9	0.1
Registered electors			7,351
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	0.8

Gosforth

Gosforth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Woodwark*	1,565	39.0	−1.6
	Conservative	Doc Anand	1,334	33.3	+7.0
	Labour	Nick Arnold	875	21.8	+1.9
	Green	Anna Foster	237	5.9	−7.2
Majority			231	5.8	8.6
Turnout			4,011	52.8	1.5
Registered electors			7,596
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	4.3

Heaton

Heaton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mehrban Sadiq	1,384	49.0	+2.7
	Green	Andrew Gray	625	22.1	−5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Appleby	595	21.1	+3.4
	Conservative	Shah Ali	156	5.5	−2.8
	Communist	Steve Handford	65	2.3	New
Majority			759	26.9	8.3
Turnout			2,825	39.4	1.9
Registered electors			7,171
	Labour hold		Swing	4.2

Kenton

Kenton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Paula Maines	1,337	55.1	+6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Austin	562	23.2	−1.1
	Conservative	Zak Mudie	270	11.1	−5.7
	Green	Adam Jackson	185	7.6	New
	TUSC	Nicholas Fray	71	2.9	−7.5
Majority			775	32.0	7.8
Turnout			2,425	33.2	1.6
Registered electors			7,313
	Labour hold		Swing	3.9

Kingston Park South and Newbiggin Hall

Kingston Park South and Newbiggin Hall
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jacqui Robinson*	1,377	66.8	+10.6
	Conservative	James Mark	321	15.6	−13.7
	Liberal Democrats	Aidan King	249	12.1	−2.4
	Green	Tristan Gilet	113	5.5	New
Majority			1,056	51.3	24.3
Turnout			2,060	29.6	1.2
Registered electors			6,957
	Labour hold		Swing	12.2

Lemington

Lemington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Newcastle Ind.	Nix Joanne	1,077	45.9	+8.7
	Labour Co-op	Stephen Barry-Stanners	918	39.1	−2.5
	Conservative	Joel Bland	195	8.3	−2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Petrie	80	3.4	−1.9
	Green	Hilda Frost	76	3.2	−2.1
Majority			159	6.8	2.4
Turnout			2,346	33.0	1.1
Registered electors			7,111
	Newcastle Ind. gain from Labour		Swing	5.6

Manor Park

Manor Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Deborah Burns	1,573	53.6	−3.4
	Labour	Carly Walker-Dawson	859	29.3	−3.7
	Conservative	Beth Spurr	260	8.9	−1.2
	Green	Michael Rabley	242	8.2	New
Majority			714	24.3	0.3
Turnout			2,934	41.2	0.6
Registered electors			7,117
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	0.2

Monument

Monument
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Teresa Cairns*	751	63.2	+17.3
	Green	James Vesty	205	17.0	−8.7
	Conservative	Aaron Whelan-Harvey	133	11.2	−1.1
	Liberal Democrats	David Partington	102	8.6	−7.5
Majority			546	45.8	24.8
Turnout			1,191	23.7	5.5
Registered electors			5,029
	Labour hold		Swing	13.0

North Jesmond

North Jesmond (2 seats due to by-election)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gerry Keating*	1,322	65.1	+23.8
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Browne	1,276	62.8	+21.5
	Labour Co-op	Oskar Avery	567	27.9	−15.3
	Labour Co-op	Michael Bell	512	25.2	−18.1
	Green	Shehla Naqvi	179	8.8	+1.4
	Green	Tim Dowson	135	6.6	−0.8
	Conservative	Stephen Dawes	79	3.9	−2.8
	Conservative	Genna Brown	73	3.6	−3.1
Majority			755	37.2	15.5
Majority			764	37.6	35.7
Turnout			2,032	47.6	2.5
Turnout			2,032	47.6	12.2
Registered electors			4,433
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	20.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	19.8

Ouseburn

Ouseburn
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gareth Kane*	931	49.7	±0.0
	Labour	Asad Syed	705	37.7	+0.1
	Green	Phill James	187	10.0	+0.5
	Conservative	Marie Summersby	49	2.6	−0.6
Majority			226	12.1	Even
Turnout			1,872	37.6	6.4
Registered electors			4,976
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	0.1

Parklands

Parklands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Morrissey*	2,143	54.2	+13.1
	Labour	Matthew Hill	895	22.6	+5.7
	Conservative	Andrew Burnett	536	13.6	−6.2
	Green	Audrey MacNaughton	378	9.6	+0.6
Majority			1,248	31.6	11.4
Turnout			3,952	44.8	3.0
Registered electors			8,824
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	3.7

South Jesmond

South Jesmond
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lesley Storey*	828	45.5	+8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Fiona Punchard	476	26.2	+6.6
	Green	Alistair Ford	250	13.8	−12.9
	Conservative	Elias al Dahan	179	9.8	−5.7
	SDP	Martin Evison	85	4.7	+3.4
Majority			352	19.4	9.1
Turnout			1,818	36.5	3.1
Registered electors			4,975
	Labour hold		Swing	1.0

Walker

Walker
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Margaret Wood*	1,224	70.3	+16.9
	Conservative	Alex Walker	229	13.2	+5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Psallidas	100	5.7	−1.3
	Green	Tom Whatson	95	5.5	New
	Freedom Alliance	Steve Fish	92	5.3	New
Majority			995	57.2	35.8
Turnout			1,740	24.7	4.5
Registered electors			7,039
	Labour hold		Swing	5.6

Walkergate

Walkergate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Frew*	1,571	59.6	+15.6
	Liberal Democrats	Deborah Gallagher	433	16.4	+1.4
	Conservative	Stephen Oxborough	331	12.5	+3.0
	Green	Doug Paterson	160	6.1	−0.2
	Freedom Alliance	Julie Fish	143	5.4	New
Majority			1,138	43.1	23.7
Turnout			2,638	31.8	1.8
Registered electors			8,293
	Labour hold		Swing	7.1

West Fenham

West Fenham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	P.J. Morrissey	1,200	45.3	+39.6
	Labour Co-op	Sylvia Copley*	883	33.3	−10.8
	Conservative	Raja Khan	329	12.4	+2.4
	Green	Tay Pitman	237	8.9	−2.3
Majority			317	12.0	11.2
Turnout			2,649	36.6	4.0
Registered electors			7,229
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	25.2

Wingrove

Wingrove
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Rebecca Shatwell*	1,520	67.3	+11.4
	Green	John Pearson	318	14.1	+0.9
	Conservative	Jarred Riley	229	10.6	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Steen	180	8.0	−3.9
Majority			1,202	53.3	10.5
Turnout			2,257	31.4	5.9
Registered electors			7,198
	Labour hold		Swing	5.3

References

"Notice of Election" (PDF). Newcastle City Council. 24 March 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
Holland, Daniel (5 May 2023). "Local Elections 2023: Newcastle City Council results in full - how every candidate scored". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
"Local elections 2023: Labour hold Sunderland, Newcastle, South Tyneside and Gateshead". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
"Newcastle City Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF). Elections Centre. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
"BBC News - Election 2011 - England council elections - Newcastle upon Tyne". BBC News. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
"Labour lose seats in Newcastle but remain dominant force – as council leader prepares for challenge - Chronicle Live". www.chroniclelive.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
"Nick Kemp challenged for Newcastle City Council leadership as Labour power struggle takes another twist - Chronicle Live". www.chroniclelive.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
"Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Newcastle City Council. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.

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