2023 Melton Borough Council election

2023 Melton Borough Council

←  2019 4 May 2023 2027 →
All 28 seats to Melton Borough Council 15 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Joe Orson Elaine Holmes Pip Allnatt Party Conservative Independent Labour Last election 22 seats, 59.7% 5 seats, 15.0% 0 seats, 7.4% Seats before 19 [lower-alpha 1] 8 [lower-alpha 2] 0 Seats after 11 10 5 Seat change 11 5 5   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Green Liberal Democrats Last election 1 seat, 14.3% 0 seats, 1.4% Seats before 1 0 Seats after 1 1 Seat change 1
Results by ward
Leader before election Joe Orson Conservative Leader after election Pip Allnatt Labour No overall control

The 2023 Melton Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023, to elect all 28 members of Melton Borough Council in Leicestershire, England.

Summary

Following the results, the Conservatives lost the council to no overall control. ^[2] A Labour and independent coalition took control of the council, with Labour councillor Pip Allnatt being appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 24 May 2023. ^[3]

Overall results

The overall results were: ^[4]

Results [5]
Party	Seats	Change
Conservative Party	11	11
Independents and Others	10	5
Labour Party	5	5
Green Party	1
Liberal Democrats	1	1

Ward results

The results for each ward were as follows. Sitting councillors standing for re-election are indicated with an asterisk (*). ^[6]

Asfordby

Asfordby (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Steven John Carter*	454	63.2
	Green	Charlotte Mary Pitt Miller	299	41.6
	Conservative	Ronald Anthony de Burle*	239	33.3
	Conservative	Nicholas Arthur Putname	218	30.4
Turnout			718	24.89
Registered electors			2,885
	Independent hold
	Green gain from Conservative

Bottesford

Bottesford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald James Pritchett*	602	57.5	+57.5
	Labour	James Miles Mason	506	48.3	N/A
	Conservative	Morgan Lawrence Platts Kilburn	447	42.7	N/A
Turnout			1,047	32.29
Registered electors			3,255
	Conservative gain from Independent
	Labour gain from Conservative

Donald Pritchett had been elected as an independent in 2019 but joined the Conservatives in September 2021. Seat recorded here as a Conservative gain from independent to allow comparison with 2019 result. ^[7]

Croxton Kerrial

Croxton Kerrial

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Alan Henry Hewson*	289	55.6	−6.6
	Conservative	Jack William Smith	231	44.4	+6.6
Turnout			520	33.85
Registered electors			1,551
	Independent hold

Frisby on the Wreake

Frisby on the Wreake

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ronan William Joseph Browne*	465	65.8	+65.8
	Labour	Gwyneth Margaret Clay	139	19.7	N/A
	Independent	Eric Gordon John Brown	103	14.6	N/A
Turnout			707	44.53
Registered electors			1,599
	Conservative hold

Gaddesby

Gaddesby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Howard Child*	431	74.7	+74.7
	Labour	Adrienne Myfanwy Holland	146	25.3	N/A
Turnout			577	39.20
Registered electors			1,477
	Conservative hold

Long Clawson and Stathern

Long Clawson and Stathern (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher John Evans*	565	42.7
	Conservative	Simon Gordon Theobald Orson	512	38.7
	Labour	Michael McQuillan	492	37.2
	Independent	Nicholas James Hall	469	35.4
	Independent	Dawn Michelle Thompson-Birch	116	8.8
	Independent	Leigh Tracy Birch	73	5.5
Turnout			1,323	38.19
Registered electors			3,490
	Conservative gain from Independent
	Conservative hold

Christopher Evans had been elected as an independent in 2019 but joined the Conservatives in November 2022. Seat recorded here as a Conservative gain from independent to allow comparison with 2019 result. ^[8] The other seat in Long Clawson is shown as a Conservative hold, although it had been vacant since August 2022 following the death of the previous holder, Mel Steadman. ^[1]

Melton Craven

Melton Craven (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Sharon Elizabeth Butcher	277	39.7
	Conservative	Ian Atherton	250	35.8
	Independent	Lee Thomas Freer	239	34.2
	Conservative	Jeanne-Marie Douglas*	237	34.0
	Labour	Timothy John Litt	229	32.8
Turnout			698	24.43
Registered electors			2,869
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Melton Dorian

Melton Dorian (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sarah Anne Cox	402	40.1
	Independent	Marilyn Mary Gordon	305	30.4
	Independent	Patricia Cumbers*	300	29.9
	Conservative	Christopher Paul Gray	283	28.2
	Independent	Tracy Lorraine Beaken	277	27.6
	Green	Alastair James McQuillan	255	25.4
	Conservative	Julian Tarquin Lockwood	239	23.8
	Conservative	Simon James Thompson	234	23.3
	Green	Isabelle Jane Taylor	180	17.9
Turnout			1,003	22.84
Registered electors			4,418
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Independent gain from Green
	Independent gain from Conservative

Pat Cumbers had been elected as a Conservative in 2019 but left the party in November 2021 and became an independent. Seat recorded here as independent gain from Conservative to allow comparison with 2019 result. ^[9]

Melton Egerton

Melton Egerton (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip George Allnatt	278	43.2
	Labour	Michael Dennis Brown	260	40.4
	Conservative	Jason Lewis Sharman	179	27.8
	Independent	Peter Faulkner*	176	27.3
	Independent	Elaine Ann Faulkner	175	27.2
	Conservative	Jonathan Winters	172	26.7
Turnout			644	21.27
Registered electors			3,060
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative

Peter Faulkner had been elected as a Conservative in 2019 but left the party in May 2022 and became an independent. Seat recorded here as Labour gain from Conservative to allow comparison with 2019 result. ^[10]

Melton Newport

Melton Newport (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Margaret Glancy*	629	47.1
	Independent	Simon Roy Lumley*	609	45.6
	Conservative	Timothy Webster*	459	34.4
	Conservative	Robert Austen Bindloss*	425	31.8
	Labour	Vanessa Jackson	413	30.9
	Conservative	Rebecca Smith*	404	30.2
	Independent	Bruce Christopher Midgley	336	25.1
Turnout			1,336	30.22
Registered electors			4,448
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Simon Lumley and Margaret Glancy had both been elected as Conservatives in 2019 but left the party in June 2020 and March 2023 respectively to become independents. Seats recorded here as independent gains from Conservative to allow comparison with 2019 result. ^{[11] [12]}

Melton Sysonby

Melton Sysonby (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	James Brooker Adcock	461	39.4
	Labour	Helen Louise Cliff	457	39.1
	Conservative	Sigrid Atherton*	438	37.4
	Conservative	John Illingworth*	423	36.2
	Conservative	Jacob Nathaniel Wilkinson*	370	31.6
	Independent	Rachel Godber	261	22.3
	Independent	Craig William Digby	240	20.5
	Independent	Kenneth John Panter	177	15.1
Turnout			1,170	26.89
Registered electors			4,362
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Melton Warwick

Melton Warwick (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alison Jacqueline Freer*	360	42.1
	Independent	Allen Thwaites	345	40.4
	Conservative	Stephen Ellis	337	39.4
	Labour	Susan Caroline Hammond	327	38.2
Turnout			855	30.73
Registered electors			2,792
	Conservative hold
	Independent gain from Conservative

Old Dalby

Old Dalby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Theobold Orson*	349	56.7	+0.5
	Independent	Elaine Holmes*	179	29.1	N/A
	Independent	Steven James Cliff	88	14.3	N/A
Turnout			616	36.81
Registered electors			1,676
	Conservative hold

Somerby

Somerby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Leigh Higgins*	398	56.0	−9.8
	Conservative	Vimbisayi Taruvinga	200	28.1	−27.7
	Liberal Democrats	Hamish Joseph Cameron McAuley	113	15.9	−18.3
Turnout			711	46.79
Registered electors			1,528
	Independent gain from Conservative

Leigh Higgins was elected as a Conservative in 2019, was expelled from the party in September 2021, appealed and was readmitted early in 2023, but resigned from the party in April 2023 to become an independent. Seat recorded here as independent gain from Conservative to allow comparison with 2019 result. ^[13]

Waltham on the Wolds

Waltham on the Wolds

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Richard Stuart Sharp	323	62.2	N/A
	Conservative	Benjamin P. A. Townley	196	37.8	+7.4
Turnout			519	34.40
Registered electors			1,526
	Independent hold

Wymondham

Wymondham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malise Charles Richard Graham*	302	71.7	+71.7
	Labour	Graham Bett	119	28.3	N/A
Turnout			421	31.84
Registered electors			1,341
	Conservative hold

Changes 2023–2027

Affiliation changes

• Christopher Evans, elected as a Conservative, left the party in May 2024 to sit as an independent. ^[14]

By-elections

Asfordby by-election, 2 November 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Margaret Clay	163	34.1	N/A
	Conservative	Chris Gray	123	25.7	−7.6
	Independent	Peter Faulkner	100	20.9	N/A
	Green	Issy Taylor	92	19.2	–22.4
Turnout			478	16.8
Registered electors			2,845
	Labour gain from Green

The Asfordby by-election was triggered by the resignation of Green councillor Charlie Pitt Miller. ^{[15] [4]}

Wymondham by-election, 23 May 2024

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Joseph Chubb	233	65.6	−6.1
	Independent	Samantha Seaward	122	34.4	N/A
Turnout
Registered electors
	Conservative hold

The Wymondham by-election was triggered by the resignation of Conservative councillor Malise Graham.

References

1. Includes one vacant seat at Long Clawson and Stathern previously held by Conservative councillor Mel Steadman until her death in August 2022. ^[1]
2. Of the eight independent councillors before the election, three sat with the Green councillor as the "Opposition" group, led by independent Elaine Holmes, the other five did not belong to a group.

1. Rennie, Nick (22 August 2022). "Tributes for Melton councillor after her death is announced". Melton Times. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
2. Kershaw, Tom (2023-05-04). "Melton Borough Council local election results 2023 in full". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
3. Rennie, Nick (24 May 2023). "Melton Council elects new Labour councillor as leader". Melton Times. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
4. "Borough elections 4 May 2023". Melton Borough Council. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
5. "Melton result - Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
6. "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Melton Borough Council. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
7. Boothroyd, David (24 September 2021). "Many happy returns in Cambridgeshire". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
8. Boothroyd, David (25 November 2022). "Lib Dems back on the Island". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
9. Rennie, Nick (17 November 2021). ""We have been dumped like garbage"". Melton Times. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
10. Boothroyd, David. "Did the Mods go Independent?". LocalCouncils.co.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
11. Rennie, Nick (29 July 2020). "Investigation clears Melton councillor of making racist comments". Melton Times. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
12. Boothroyd, David (24 March 2023). "Tory hold in a rush in Northants". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
13. Rennie, Nick (5 April 2023). "Councillor pledge to stand against former Tory colleagues after bullying claims". Melton Times. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
14. Boothroyd, David (31 May 2024). "Kingstanding still". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
15. Rennie, Nick (20 September 2023). "Melton's only Green borough councillor resigns". Melton Times. Retrieved 31 October 2023.