2023 Harlow District Council election

2023 Harlow District Council election

←  2022 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2024  →
11 out of 33 seats to Harlow District Council 17 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	25.2%
First party Second party   Leader Russell Perrin Chris Vince Party Conservative Labour Last election 23 seats, 48.1% 10 seats, 40.1% Seats before 20 13 Seats won 5 6 Seats after 21 12 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 6,675 7,041 Percentage 41.5% 43.8% Swing 6.6% 3.7%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Harlow District Council election
Leader before election Russell Perrin Conservative Leader after election Dan Swords Conservative

The 2023 Harlow District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Harlow District Council in Essex, England. ^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections across England. One third of the council was up for election.

The Conservatives retained their majority on the council. ^[2] Immediately after the election the Conservative leader of the council, Russell Perrin, announced his resignation as leader. ^[3] At the subsequent annual council meeting on 25 May 2023 the new Conservative leader, 22-year-old Dan Swords, was appointed leader of the council. ^[4]

Summary

Election result

2023 Harlow District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	5	1	45.5	16	21	63.6	6,675	41.5	–6.6
	Labour	6	1	54.5	6	12	36.4	7,041	43.8	+3.7
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,524	9.5	+0.5
	Harlow Alliance	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	455	2.8	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	235	1.5	+1.3
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	111	0.7	N/A
	TUSC	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	42	0.3	+0.1

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Harlow District Council following the close of nomination on 5 April 2023. ^[5] The results were: ^[6]

Bush Fair

Bush Fair ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Jodi Dunne*	687	50.9	+6.7
	Conservative	Emma Ghaffari	450	33.3	–11.3
	Green	Jennifer Steadman	142	10.5	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Millington	63	4.7	+1.6
Majority			237	17.6	N/A
Turnout			1,350	24.7	–2.9
Registered electors			5,469
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	9.0

Church Langley

Church Langley ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Johnson*	1,000	64.1	–5.3
	Labour	Michael Danvers	402	25.8	+4.9
	Green	Bengeman White	154	9.9	+0.4
Majority			598	38.3	–10.4
Turnout			1,561	24.5	–3.2
Registered electors			6,378
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.1

Great Parndon

Great Parndon ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Carter*	749	51.9	–0.2
	Labour	John Strachan	441	30.6	+0.8
	Harlow Alliance	Nicholas Taylor	173	12.0	–5.9
	Green	Paul King	77	5.3	N/A
Majority			308	21.4	–1.0
Turnout			1,442	29.8	–4.3
Registered electors			4,837
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.5

Harlow Common

Harlow Common ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mark Wilkinson*	707	46.9	+2.1
	Conservative	Danielle Brown	645	42.8	–5.1
	Green	Nathan Ederton	149	9.9	+2.9
Majority			62	4.1	N/A
Turnout			1,507	27.8	–3.0
Registered electors			5,429
	Labour hold		Swing	3.6

Little Parndon and Hare Street

Little Parndon and Hare Street ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Margaret Hulcoop	988	65.2	+14.3
	Conservative	Jayne Saunders	450	29.7	–8.3
	Green	Klara Bow	66	4.4	–5.9
Majority			538	35.5	+22.3
Turnout			1,516	23.6	–4.2
Registered electors			6,415
	Labour hold		Swing	11.3

Mark Hall

Mark Hall ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Aiden O'Dell	626	47.4	+4.3
	Conservative	Geoffrey Longster	320	24.2	–16.5
	Green	Jamie Gilbert	176	13.3	–2.5
	Reform UK	Mark Gough	111	8.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Rideout	82	6.2	N/A
Majority			306	23.2	+20.7
Turnout			1,320	24.8	–4.6
Registered electors			5,332
	Labour hold		Swing	10.4

Netteswell

Netteswell ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nancy Watson*	705	52.0	+2.3
	Conservative	Elena Hardware	452	33.3	–6.0
	Green	Kim O'Connor	103	7.6	–3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Thurston	90	6.7	N/A
Majority			253	18.6	+8.2
Turnout			1,357	22.8	–4.9
Registered electors			5,944
	Labour hold		Swing	4.2

Old Harlow

Old Harlow ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sue Livings*	1,073	48.7	–3.8
	Labour	Stefan Mullard	747	33.9	+5.1
	Green	Yasmin Gregory	325	14.7	–1.1
	TUSC	Paul Lenihan	42	1.9	±0.0
Majority			326	14.8	–8.7
Turnout			2,204	25.5	–3.8
Registered electors			8,652
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.5

Staple Tye

Staple Tye ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Steer	504	42.7	–9.6
	Labour Co-op	Jake Shepherd	476	40.4	+1.4
	Harlow Alliance	Karen James	105	8.9	N/A
	Green	Gareth Williams	90	7.6	–0.7
Majority			28	2.4	–11.0
Turnout			1,179	23.1	–3.6
Registered electors			5,096
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	5.5

Sumners & Kingsmoor

Sumners & Kingsmoor ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clive Souter*	574	43.5	–8.1
	Labour	Anita Schultschik	481	36.4	+4.4
	Harlow Alliance	Alan Leverett	177	13.4	+2.3
	Green	David Margetts	86	6.5	+1.4
Majority			93	7.0	–12.6
Turnout			1,321	26.2	–3.0
Registered electors			5,049
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.3

Toddbrook

Toddbrook ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Daniella Pritchard	781	56.0	+7.9
	Conservative	Brian Kasule	458	32.8	–6.9
	Green	Julie Taylor	156	11.2	–1.0
Majority			323	23.0	N/A
Turnout			1,402	25.2	–3.9
Registered electors			5,557
	Labour hold		Swing	7.4

Reactions

The Conservative leader of the council, Russell Perrin, said the election was a "brilliant result" for the party. ^[10] Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP for Harlow, thanked voters and noted that the gain from Labour in Staple Tye resulted in the ward having all Conservative councillors for the first time. ^[11]

The leader of the Labour group on the council, Chris Vince, called the election a "good result for Harlow Labour", pointing to the party winning the popular vote and the majority of seats up for election. ^[12]

References

1. "Notice of Election" (PDF). Harlow District Council. 24 March 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
2. "Local elections 2023: Conservatives lose control of Brentwood council". BBC News . Retrieved 5 May 2023.
3. "Leader of Harlow Council resigns over work life balance". BBC News. 12 May 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
4. Meyler, Piers (26 May 2023). "Harlow councillor, 22, becomes one of youngest council leaders in the country". Essex Live. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
5. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Harlow District Council. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
6. "Local council election results". Harlow Council. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
7. @HarlowCouncil (May 4, 2023). "Full result sheets for the Bush Fair, Great Parndon, Harlow Common and Little Parndon & Hare Street wards" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
8. @HarlowCouncil (May 4, 2023). "Full result sheets for Church Langley, Netteswell and Old Harlow wards" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
9. @HarlowCouncil (May 4, 2023). "Full result sheets for the Mark Hall, Staple Tye, Sumners & Kingsmoor and Toddbrook wards" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
10. "Harlow Council leader responds to election night result". Your Harlow. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
11. "Harlow MP pleased as Tories retain council". Your Harlow. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
12. "Harlow Labour leader in positive mood following local election results". Your Harlow. Retrieved 5 May 2023.