2023 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council election

2023 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council election

4 May 2023
All 63 seats to Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council 32 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Mark Hunter Elise Wilson Gary Lawson Party Liberal Democrats Labour Green Last election 28 seats, 34.5% 25 seats, 32.7% 2 seats, 8.0% Seats won 30 24 3 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 82,930 70,045 15,578 Percentage 38.5% 32.5% 7.2% Swing 4.0% 0.2% 0.8%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Anna Charles-Jones Matt Wynne Mike Hurleston Party Heald Green Ratepayers Community Association Conservative Last election 3 seats, 2.0% N/A 5 seats, 21.7% Seats won 3 3 0 Seat change 3 5 Popular vote 4,804 4,662 35,267 Percentage 2.2% 2.2% 16.4% Swing 0.2% N/A 5.3%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council election
Leader before election Mark Hunter Liberal Democrat No overall control Leader of the Council Mark Hunter Liberal Democrat No overall control

The 2023 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council elections took place on 4 May 2023 alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. Due to boundary changes, all 63 seats on Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council were contested.

The council was under no overall control prior to the election, being led by a Liberal Democrat minority administration. The council remained under no overall control after the election, but the Liberal Democrats increased their share of the seats.

Background

Stockport began as a Conservative council, with Conservative majorities from 1975 to 1982. The Liberal Democrats (Liberal Party from 1973 to 1988) overtook the Conservatives in 1992, and formed their first administration in 1999, before another period of no overall control from 2000 to 2002 with the second Liberal Democrat majority lasting until 2011. A Labour minority administration replaced the Liberal Democrats in 2016, and survived until 2022, when the Lib Dems increased their lead over the Labour Party and were able to take control of the authority.

In November 2022 the Local Government Boundary Commission for England made The Stockport (Electoral Changes) Order 2022, which officially abolished the 21 existing wards and replaced them with 21 new wards on different boundaries. Because of this change all 63 seats on the council, three per ward, were contested.

Electoral process

The election took place using the plurality block voting system, a form of first-past-the-post voting, with each ward being represented by three councillors. The candidate with the most votes in each ward will serve a four year term ending in 2027, the second-placed candidate will serve a three year term anding in 2026 and the third-placed candidate will serve a one year term ending in 2024.

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in Stockport aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the election. People who lived at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, were entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities. Voting in-person at polling stations took place from 07:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters were able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.

Previous council composition

After 2022 election			Before 2023 election			After 2023 election
Party		Seats	Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Liberal Democrats	28		Liberal Democrats	28		Liberal Democrats	30
	Labour	25		Labour	22		Labour	24
	Conservative	5		Conservative	4		Conservative	0
	Heald Green Ratepayers	3		Heald Green Ratepayers	3		Heald Green Ratepayers	3
	Green	2		Green	2		Green	3
				Community Association	1		Community Association	3
	Independent	0		Independent	3		Independent	0

Results

2023 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council election
Party		Seats	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	30	2	47.6	38.5	82,930
	Labour	24	1	38.1	32.5	70,045
	Conservative	0	5		16.4	35,267
	Green	3	1	4.8	7.2	15,578
	Heald Green Ratepayers	3	0	4.8	2.2	4,804
	Community Association	3	3	4.8	2.2	4,662
	Independent	0	0		0.5	1,053
	Reform UK	0	0		0.3	606
	Women's Equality	0	0		0.2	384
	Stockport Fights Austerity No to Cuts	0	0		0.1	233

Bold names highlight a winning candidate.

Bramhall North

Bramhall North (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Jones	2,210	51.6
	Liberal Democrats	Suzanne Wyatt	2,149	50.2
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Wynne	1,728	40.3
	Conservative	Fiona Bates	1,634	38.1
	Conservative	Linda Holt	1,625	37.9
	Conservative	Peter Crossen	1,503	35.1
	Green	Deborah Hind	468	10.9
	Labour	Jill Beswick	420	9.8
	Labour	Mike Bennett	311	7.3
	Labour	David Parkinson	252	5.9
Rejected ballots			13
Turnout			4,285	43.8
Total votes			12,300
Registered electors			9,792
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Bramhall South & Woodford

Bramhall South and Woodford (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Powney	2,342	49.3
	Liberal Democrats	Dallas Jones	2,228	46.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jeremy Meal	2,188	46.1
	Conservative	Brian Bagnall	2,025	42.6
	Conservative	Mike Hurleston	1,828	38.5
	Conservative	John McGahan	1,789	37.7
	Green	Andrew Dearden	437	9.2
	Labour	Vince Martin	254	5.3
	Labour	Karen Szkilnyk	230	4.8
	Labour	Chris Wells	207	4.4
Rejected ballots			19
Turnout			4,750	46.2
Total votes			13,528
Registered electors			10,277
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Bredbury & Woodley

Bredbury & Woodley (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Joe Barratt	1,639	43.3
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Thorpe	1,598	42.2
	Labour	Rosemary Barratt	1,479	39.1
	Liberal Democrats	James Epps	1,390	36.7
	Liberal Democrats	Dan Willis	1,388	36.7
	Labour	Charlotte Price	1,238	32.7
	Conservative	Tim Morley	515	13.6
	Conservative	Michael Lyons	480	12.7
	Conservative	Bernie Wylde	424	11.2
	Green	Alex Crompton	312	8.2
	Independent	Sue Chatton	243	6.4
Rejected ballots			12
Turnout			3,785	34.6
Total votes			10,706
Registered electors			10,952
	Labour win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Bredbury Green & Romiley

Bredbury Green & Romiley (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Lisa Smart	2,301	64.3
	Liberal Democrats	Angie Clark	2,239	62.6
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Roberts	2,048	57.2
	Conservative	Pat Bentley	607	17.0
	Conservative	Jane Cannon	563	15.7
	Conservative	Maureen Walsh	559	15.6
	Labour	Peter Black	488	13.6
	Labour	David Colman	439	12.3
	Labour	Susan Colman	399	11.1
	Green	Stephanie Wyatt	319	8.9
Rejected ballots			13
Turnout			3,579	34.0
Total votes			9,962
Registered electors			10,535
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Brinnington & Stockport Central

Brinnington & Stockport Central (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Christine Carrigan	1,041	66.1
	Labour	Kerry Waters	931	59.1
	Labour	Karl Wardlaw	843	53.5
	Green	Alexander Drury	282	17.9
	Conservative	Ros Lloyd	222	14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Catrin Barrowcliff	217	13.8
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Ingham	212	13.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jack Holliss	142	9.0
Rejected ballots			18
Turnout			1,575	17.6
Total votes			3,890
Registered electors			8,950
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Cheadle East & Cheadle Hulme North

Cheadle East & Cheadle Hulme North (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	David Meller	2,041	49.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jilly Julian	1,846	44.5
	Labour Co-op	Yvonne Guariento	1,666	40.2
	Labour Co-op	Mike Hill	1,586	38.3
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Hendley	1,575	38.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jane O'Neill	1,408	34.0
	Conservative	Mike Booth	449	10.8
	Conservative	Naveed Khan	381	9.2
	Green	Michael Padfield	377	9.1
	Conservative	Pat Leck	368	8.9
Rejected ballots			15
Turnout			4,144	35.9
Total votes			11,697
Registered electors			11,533
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

Cheadle Hulme South

Cheadle Hulme South (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Hunter	2,852	65.6
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Foster-Grime	2,657	61.2
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Holloway	2,405	55.4
	Conservative	Brian Dougal	732	16.8
	Conservative	Michael Evans	728	16.8
	Labour	Barry Hawkins	694	16.0
	Conservative	Gill Shaw	631	14.5
	Labour	Tess McDermott	509	11.7
	Green	Andrew O'Shea	506	11.6
	Labour	James Pelham	398	9.2
Rejected ballots			8
Turnout			4,345	36.9
Total votes			12,112
Registered electors			11,766
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Cheadle West & Gatley

Cheadle West & Gatley (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Clive Greenhalgh	2,219	55.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Hunter	2,160	53.9
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Morrison	2,018	50.3
	Conservative	Michael Fox	832	20.7
	Conservative	Minara Cook	759	18.9
	Conservative	Faria Khan	690	17.2
	Labour	Christopher Gleeson	678	16.9
	Green	Rayne Barrett	625	15.6
	Labour	Elaine Preece	569	14.2
	Labour	Themis Kokolakakis	510	12.7
Rejected ballots			16
Turnout			4,011	35.4
Total votes			11,060
Registered electors			11,340
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Davenport & Cale Green

Davenport & Cale Green (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Dickie Davies	2,165	66.9
	Labour	Wendy Wild	1,890	58.4
	Labour	Janet Mobbs	1,849	57.2
	Liberal Democrats	Dominic Wells	549	17.0
	Green	Paolo Granelli	518	16.0
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Ardern	446	13.8
	Conservative	Nathan Lumb	427	13.2
	Liberal Democrats	Bruce Fairbanks	393	12.2
	Reform UK	Dottie Hopkins	185	5.7
	Stockport Fights Austerity No to Cuts	John Pearson	117	3.6
	Stockport Fights Austerity No to Cuts	Ashley Walker	116	3.6
Rejected ballots			7
Turnout			3,234	28.3
Total votes			8,655
Registered electors			11,418
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Edgeley

Edgeley (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Community Association	Matt Wynne	1,714	54.9
	Community Association	Leah Taylor	1,487	47.6
	Community Association	Asa Caton	1,461	46.8
	Labour	Louise Heywood	1,183	37.9
	Labour	Georgia Lynott	1,166	37.3
	Labour	Rory Leonard	1,083	34.7
	Green	Shaughan Rick	204	6.5
	Liberal Democrats	Robbie Cowbury	187	6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Tracey Whitmore	155	5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Traynor	124	4.0
	Conservative	Karl Seppman	106	3.4
Rejected ballots			9
Turnout			3,123	35.0
Total votes			8,870
Registered electors			8,917
	Community Association win (new seat)
	Community Association win (new seat)
	Community Association win (new seat)

Hazel Grove

Hazel Grove (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Jake Austin	1,662	48.8
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Meikle	1,596	46.9
	Liberal Democrats	Frankie Singleton	1,458	42.8
	Conservative	Bill Law	924	27.2
	Conservative	Elizabeth Arnold	891	26.2
	Conservative	Andrew Baker	891	26.2
	Labour	Carl Carrigan	708	20.8
	Labour	Linda Paton	544	16.0
	Labour	Johnny White	468	13.8
	Green	Mary Bullock	375	11.0
Rejected ballots			18
Turnout			3,403	32.6
Total votes			9,517
Registered electors			10,451
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Heald Green

Heald Green (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Heald Green Ratepayers	Carole McCann	1,663	45.6
	Heald Green Ratepayers	Anna Charles-Jones	1,625	44.6
	Heald Green Ratepayers	Catherine Stuart	1,516	41.6
	Liberal Democrats	Qasim Ahmed	988	27.1
	Liberal Democrats	Gemma Bowker	893	24.5
	Liberal Democrats	Iain Roberts	863	23.7
	Labour	Kath Priestley	625	17.1
	Labour	Colin Owen	563	15.4
	Labour	Brian Preece	442	12.1
	Conservative	Janice McGahan	302	8.3
	Conservative	Yvonne Salmons	290	8.0
	Conservative	Oliver Williamson	237	6.5
	Green	Chitra Ramachandran	202	5.5
Rejected ballots			8
Turnout			3,645	33.4
Total votes			10,209
Registered electors			10,927
	Heald Green Ratepayers win (new seat)
	Heald Green Ratepayers win (new seat)
	Heald Green Ratepayers win (new seat)

Heatons North

Heatons North (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	David Sedgwick	2,873	67.6
	Labour	John Taylor	2,819	66.3
	Labour	Dena Ryness	2,664	62.7
	Green	Sam Dugdale	900	21.2
	Conservative	Hassan Sajjad	647	15.2
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Ankers	386	9.1
	Women's Equality	Diane Coffey	384	9.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Humphreys	371	8.7
	Liberal Democrats	Craig Wright	260	6.1
Rejected ballots			22
Turnout			4,250	38.9
Total votes			11,304
Registered electors			10,922
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Heatons South

Heatons South (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Colin Foster	2,868	69.3
	Labour	Dean Fitzpatrick	2,838	68.6
	Labour	Claire Vibert	2,582	62.4
	Green	Sophie Tyrrell	947	22.9
	Conservative	Joel Tennuchi	575	13.9
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret McDermott	418	10.1
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Allan	353	8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Hardisty	325	7.9
Rejected ballots			14
Turnout			4,136	38.3
Total votes			10,906
Registered electors			10,801
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Manor

Manor (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Laura Clingan	1,328	45.1
	Labour	Sue Glithero	1,280	43.5
		Charlie Stewart		39.1
		Micheala Meikle		37.5
		Jamie Hirst		35.6
		Jason Jones		34.7
		Antony Rablen		9.2
		Charlotte Tinné		7.9
		Brian Battle		7.2
		Chris Murphy		5.9
		Andy Sorton		4.8
		Stephen Speakman		4.4
Rejected ballots			9
Turnout			2,945	29.2
Total votes
Registered electors			10,071
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)

Marple North

Marple North (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
		Steven Gribbon		63.2
		Geoff Abell		60.6
		Becky Senior		56.8
		Nigel Noble		17.6
		John Bright		15.1
		Joyce Ebbage		14.8
		Daniel Marchbank		14.1
		Sandy Broadhurst		12.7
		Craig Hamilton		9.9
		Brian Wild		8.8
		Steve Hatton		6.5
Rejected ballots			6
Turnout			4,354	45.6
Total votes
Registered electors			9,542
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)

Marple South & High Lane

Marple South & High Lane (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
		Shan Alexander		57.4
		Aron Thornley		56.0
		Colin MacAlister		54.8
		Annette Finnie		23.8
		Andrew Lord		21.4
		William Morley-Scott		19.1
		Andrew Threlfall		15.0
		Mags Hindle		12.5
		Peter Towey		9.6
		Matthew Whittley		8.4
Rejected ballots			8
Turnout			3,777	38.2
Total votes
Registered electors			9,882
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)

Norbury & Woodsmoor

Norbury & Woodsmoor (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
		Grace Baynham		43.8
		Dominic Hardwick		43.7
		Pete West		37.6
		Oliver Johnstone		35.7
		Lisa Walker		28.7
		John Wright		28.6
		Jon Byrne		18.5
		Noelle Caruso-Kelly		17.8
		Ian Devine		16.6
		Philip Handscomb		8.4
		Lynn Schofield		2.5
Rejected ballots			8
Turnout			4,434	43.9
Total votes
Registered electors			10,110
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)

Offerton

Offerton (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
		Will Dawson		44.8
		Helen Hibbert		39.8
		Will Sharp		38.6
		Oliver Harrison		38.3
		Pauline Sheaff		36.0
		Mark Weldon		31.8
		Michael Butler		13.1
		Sally Bennett		10.5
		Steve Torley		10.2
		Susan Ward		7.3
		John Kelly		4.8
Rejected ballots			16
Turnout			3,712	33.3
Total votes
Registered electors			11,160
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)

Reddish North

Reddish North (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
		David Wilson		65.4
		Holly McCormack		59.3
		Rachel Wise		53.2
		Helena Mellish		23.9
		Bernard Clayton		15.0
		Paula King		10.8
		Patricia Jones		8.8
		John Pantall		6.0
		Linda Richardson		5.4
Rejected ballots			15
Turnout			2,750	24.3
Total votes
Registered electors			11,322
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)

Reddish South

Reddish South (3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
		Liz Crix		56.0
		Gary Lawson		52.6
		James Frizzell		51.2
		Joanna Williams		38.1
		David White		37.4
		Paul Wright		30.8
		John Bates		6.9
		Megan Grant		2.7
		Robert Richardson		1.8
		June Somekh		1.4
Rejected ballots			19
Turnout			3,885	34.4
Total votes
Registered electors			11,293
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)
	win (new seat)