2023 King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council election

2023 King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council election

←  2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 55 seats to King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council 28 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Stuart Dark Terry Parish Charles Joyce Party Conservative Independent Labour Last election 28 seats, 48.2% 15 seats, 26.4% 10 seats, 16.7% Seats before 29 11 9 Seats won 21 18 11 Seat change 7 3 1 Popular vote 20,479 14,687 9,172 Percentage 40.8% 29.3% 18.3% Swing 7.4% 2.9% 1.6%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Liberal Democrats Green Last election 1 seat, 2.0% 1 seat, 4.0% Seats before 2 1 Seats won 3 2 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 3,014 2,536 Percentage 6.0% 5.1% Swing 4.0% 1.1%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council election
Leader before election Stuart Dark Conservative Leader after election Terry Parish Independent No overall control

The 2023 King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council in Norfolk, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England.

Prior to the election the council was under Conservative majority control. Following the election the Conservatives remained the largest party but lost their majority, leaving the council under no overall control. ^[1] A coalition of the independent councillors, Liberal Democrats and Greens formed a minority administration with informal support from Labour, with independent councillor Terry Parish being appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 18 May 2023. ^[2] A few days after the elections, unseated councillor and former mayor David Whitby passed away. ^[3]

Summary

Election result

The overall results were: ^[4]

2023 King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	49	21	3	10	7	37.0	40.8	20,479	–7.4
	Independent	35	18	6	3	3	33.3	29.3	14,687	+2.9
	Labour	29	11	2	1	1	20.4	18.3	9,172	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	7	3	2	0	2	5.6	6.0	3,014	+4.0
	Green	7	2	1	0	1	3.7	5.1	2,536	+1.1
	Monster Raving Loony	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.4	188	N/A
	Heritage	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	98	N/A

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by South Norfolk District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023. ^[5] The results for each ward were as follows, with an asterisk (*) indicating an incumbent councillor standing for re-election: ^[6]

Airfield

Airfield (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jim Moriarty	784	63.1	N/A
	Green	Pallavi Devulapalli	455	36.6	N/A
	Conservative	Graham Philpot	357	28.7	−20.9
	Independent	Michael Howland*	326	26.2	−37.5
Turnout				29
	Independent gain from Independent
	Green gain from Conservative

Bircham with Rudhams

Bircham with Rudhams

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Chris Morley*	504	62.2	+10.2
	Conservative	Michael Chenery	306	37.8	−10.2
Majority
Turnout				37
	Independent hold		Swing

Brancaster

Brancaster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tom De Winton	421	56.9	+11.2
	Independent	Bob Lawton*	319	43.1	−11.2
Majority
Turnout				38
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Burnham Market & Docking

Burnham Market & Docking

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samantha Sandell*	518	67.3	+5.8
	Labour	Ken Hubbard	252	32.7	N/A
Majority
Turnout				38
	Conservative hold		Swing

Clenchwarton

Clenchwarton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Steven Bearshaw	443	64.0	N/A
	Conservative	David Whitby*	249	36.0	−11.3
Majority
Turnout				30
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Denver

Denver

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Hodson	311	51.5	+10.4
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Holmes*	293	48.5	−10.4
Majority
Turnout				31
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Dersingham

Dersingham (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Judith Collingham*	828	48.0	−15.0
	Conservative	Tony Bubb*	813	47.1	−18.8
	Green	Jordan Stokes	511	29.6	+7.0
	Labour	Richard Pennington	456	26.4	−2.2
	Independent	John Houston	437	25.3	N/A
Majority
Turnout			1,726	34.91
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Downham Old Town

Downham Old Town

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joshua Osborne	301	46.3	+20.5
	Conservative	Barry Hobbs	194	29.8	−0.9
	Independent	Zara Hipsey	155	23.8	N/A
Majority
Turnout				29
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

East Downham

East Downham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Josie Ratcliffe*	310	66.2	+23.2
	Conservative	Tony White	158	33.8	+6.9
Majority
Turnout				23
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Emneth & Outwell

Emneth & Outwell (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chris Crofts*	517	56.3	+4.0
	Conservative	Harry Humphrey*	437	47.6	+1.8
	Independent	Yvonne Howard	417	45.4	±0.0
	Monster Raving Loony	Earl Elvis of Outwell	188	20.5	N/A
Majority
Turnout			919	22.91
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Fairstead

Fairstead (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Margaret Wilkinson*	368	51.4	−3.6
	Labour	Steve Everett	330	46.1	−2.8
	Conservative	Andrew Wilson	262	36.6	+9.9
	Green	Joel Blackmur	175	24.4	N/A
Turnout			716	16.80
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Feltwell

Feltwell (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Storey*	550	51.0	−15.9
	Conservative	Adrian Lawrence*	447	41.4	−5.3
	Independent	Terry Hipsey	373	34.6	N/A
	Labour	Phil Davies	302	28.0	N/A
	Heritage	Gary Conway	98	9.1	N/A
Turnout			1,079	26.54
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Gayton & Grimston

Gayton & Grimston (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Andrew De Whalley*	732	50.9	−1.2
	Independent	Bal Anota	681	47.4	N/A
	Conservative	Sue Fraser	548	38.1	−0.3
Turnout				30
	Green hold
	Independent gain from Conservative

Gaywood Chase

Gaywood Chase

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joshua Lowe	227	47.2	−11.3
	Independent	Rick Morrish	134	27.9	N/A
	Conservative	Liam Hind	120	24.9	−16.6
Majority
Turnout				25
	Labour hold		Swing

Gaywood Clock

Gaywood Clock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alex Ware*	263	69.0	+27.9
	Conservative	Mike Roberts	118	31.0	+3.1
Majority
Turnout				18
	Labour hold		Swing

Gaywood North Bank

Gaywood North Bank (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Rob Colwell	685	44.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	David Sayers	543	35.5	N/A
	Labour	Sandra Collop*	504	32.9	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Crofts	492	32.2	N/A
	Conservative	Michael Baldwin	429	28.0	−8.1
	Labour	Helen Dalgliesh	428	28.0	−4.2
	Labour	Wilf Lambert	404	26.4	−5.7
	Conservative	Philip Trask	384	25.1	−10.3
	Green	Vicky Fairweather	207	13.5	N/A
Turnout			1,530	23.72
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Labour hold

Heacham

Heacham (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Terry Parish*	1,006	67.7	−9.6
	Conservative	Andrew Jamieson	494	33.2	−1.7
	Labour	Michelle Carter	463	31.2	N/A
	Conservative	Michael Jackson	393	26.4	+4.9
Turnout			1,486	34.50
	Independent hold
	Conservative hold

Hunstanton

Hunstanton (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Angie Dickinson	609	41.9	+1.2
	Independent	Paul Beal*	522	35.9	−1.9
	Conservative	Howard Johnston	510	35.1	−0.4
	Independent	David Nice	436	30.0	N/A
	Labour	Mark Fuchter	361	24.8	+8.6
	Labour	Ed Robb	256	17.6	N/A
Turnout				39
	Conservative hold
	Independent hold

Massingham with Castle Acre

Massingham with Castle Acre

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Alistair Beales	569	64.9	N/A
	Conservative	Timothy Tilbrook	308	35.1	+21.9
Majority
Turnout				37
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing

Methwold

Methwold

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tom Ryves	370	62.6	+17.8
	Conservative	Mick Peake	221	37.4	−3.6
Majority
Turnout				27
	Independent hold		Swing

North Downham

North Downham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Andy Bullen*	207	31.0	−6.4
	Conservative	Matthew Sawyer	176	26.3	−4.7
	Independent	Barrie Wiles	166	24.9	N/A
	Labour	Eamonn McCusker	119	17.8	+3.5
Majority
Turnout				31
	Independent hold		Swing

North Lynn

North Lynn (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Jones*	355	67.7	−0.6
	Labour	Micaela Bartrum	329	62.8	−2.5
	Conservative	Bill Cox	155	29.6	+3.0
Majority
Turnout			524	12.37
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Snettisham

Snettisham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stuart Dark	413	51.7	+1.5
	Independent	Avril Wright	241	30.2	N/A
	Labour	Lesley Marriage	145	18.1	N/A
Majority
Turnout				36
	Conservative hold		Swing

South & West Lynn

South & West Lynn (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Alexandra Kemp*	481	66.2	−4.6
	Labour	Charles Joyce*	357	49.1	−1.0
	Labour	John Wheatley	161	22.1	N/A
	Conservative	Rosalie Costin	124	17.1	−2.3
	Conservative	David Costin	121	16.6	+2.1
Majority
Turnout			727	20.70
	Independent hold
	Labour hold

South Downham

South Downham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Don Tyler*	278	37.2	−20.1
	Independent	Steve Moyses	195	26.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Elaine Heath	166	22.2	−6.7
	Labour	Heather Fouracre	109	14.6	+0.7
Majority
Turnout				37
	Conservative hold		Swing

Springwood

Springwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jo Rust*	330	48.5	−8.7
	Conservative	Richard Parr	196	28.8	−14.0
	Labour	Richard Johnson	155	22.8	−34.4
Majority
Turnout				33
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

St Margaret's with St Nicholas

St Margaret's with St Nicholas (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Francis Bone*	373	41.0	+3.5
	Labour	Deborah Heneghan	299	32.9	+0.4
	Green	Rob Archer	250	27.5	−6.0
	Conservative	Josh Maddocks	225	24.7	−16.1
	Conservative	Tony Wright	211	23.2	−4.8
	Green	Claire Archer	206	22.6	N/A
	Independent	Andrew Williams	116	12.7	N/A
Turnout				24
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Conservative

Terrington

Terrington (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Kunes*	591	51.6	+1.0
	Independent	Sandra Squire*	515	44.9	−2.7
	Conservative	Remi Clark	439	38.3	+18.1
	Labour	Matt Hannay	350	30.5	N/A
Turnout			1,146	24.40
	Conservative hold
	Independent hold

The Woottons

The Woottons (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Paul Bland	1,039	49.8	+7.7
	Independent	Simon Ring	953	45.7	N/A
	Conservative	Richard Coates	842	40.4	−14.5
	Conservative	Graham Middleton*	806	38.6	−4.0
	Conservative	Greville Howard*	781	37.4	−13.3
	Labour	Peter Smith	633	30.3	+18.9
Turnout			2,086	38.07
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Tilney, Marshland & Wiggenhall

Tilney, Marshland & Wiggenhall (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Ayres*	524	50.1	+0.8
	Conservative	Brian Long*	517	49.4	+3.3
	Independent	Ashley Collins	400	38.2	−0.8
	Labour	Niall Haigh	357	34.1	N/A
Turnout			1,046	25.46
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Upwell & Delph

Upwell & Delph (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Vivienne Spikings	614	47.1	+11.9
	Independent	Colin Rose*	561	43.1	−1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Dent	525	40.3	N/A
	Conservative	Gina Wise	507	38.9	+6.6
Turnout				26
	Conservative gain from Independent
	Independent hold

Walsoken, West Walton & Walpole

Walsoken, West Walton & Walpole (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julian Kirk*	706	59.3	+16.0
	Conservative	Richard Blunt*	659	55.3	−0.2
	Independent	James Whitaker	425	35.7	N/A
	Labour	Simon Pick	277	23.3	+4.2
Turnout				25
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Watlington

Watlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jim Bhondi*	Unopposed
Turnout			N/A	N/A
	Independent hold

West Winch

West Winch (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Barclay	422	35.3	−9.4
	Independent	Simon Nash*	407	34.0	−14.4
	Independent	Benjamin Lemmon	390	32.6	N/A
	Conservative	Olivia Morris	370	30.9	−9.1
	Independent	Peter Gidney*	320	26.8	−17.9
	Labour	Christopher Heneghan	238	19.9	N/A
Turnout				30
	Conservative hold
	Independent hold

Wissey

Wissey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Sue Lintern	465	63.3	N/A
	Conservative	Colin Sampson*	270	36.7	−8.4
Majority
Turnout				34
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Changes 2023-2027

By-elections

North Lynn

North Lynn by-election: 5 June 2025

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform UK	Austen Moore	278	49.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Geri Sayers	123	21.9	N/A
	Labour	Wilfred Lambert	107	19.1	–50.5
	Green	Rob Archer	52	9.3	N/A
Majority			155	27.7	N/A
Turnout			560	13.2	+0.8
Registered electors			4,343
	Reform UK gain from Labour

Fairstead

Fairstead by-election: 5 June 2025

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform UK	Jacqueline Fry	289	39.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Crystal Colwell	275	37.2	N/A
	Labour	Michelle Carter	118	16.0	–29.7
	Green	Ian Milburn	36	4.9	–16.8
	Independent	Benjamin Lemmon	21	2.8	N/A
Majority			14	2.1	N/A
Turnout			739	17.4	+0.6
Registered electors			4,242
	Reform UK gain from Labour

References

1. Carter, Lucy (5 May 2023). "Local elections 2023: Future of the leadership of West Norfolk Council is up in the air". Lynn News. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
2. Johnston, Kris (19 May 2023). "Independent councillor Terry Parish named new leader of West Norfolk Council at 2023 annual meeting". Lynn News. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
3. "Tributes paid to former mayor who died just days after local elections". Lynn News. 2023-05-10. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
4. "Local election results in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk". ITV News. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
5. "Upcoming elections". King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council . Retrieved 11 April 2023.
6. "Borough elections 2023". Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. Retrieved 7 December 2023.