2023 New Forest District Council election

2023 New Forest District Council election

←  2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 48 seats to New Forest District Council 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jill Cleary Malcolm Wade Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Independent Last election 46 seats, 58.9% 13 seats, 23.8% 1 seat, 2.6% Seats won 26 14 4 Seat change 20 1 3 Popular vote 34,767 24,010 6,111 Percentage 42.1% 29.1% 7.4% Swing 16.8% 5.3% 4.8%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Green Labour Last election 0 seats, 3.2% 0 seats, 10.8% Seats won 3 1 Seat change 3 1 Popular vote 5,713 11,795 Percentage 6.9% 14.3% Swing 3.7% 3.5%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 New Forest District Council election
Leader before election Jill Cleary Conservative Leader after election Jill Cleary Conservative

The 2023 New Forest District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of New Forest District Council in Hampshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England. ^[1]

Prior to the election the council was under Conservative majority control. New ward boundaries came into effect for this election, reducing the number of seats on the council from 60 to 48. The Conservatives retained majority control. ^{[2] [3]}

Summary

Election result

2023 New Forest District election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	48	26	N/A	N/A	20	54.2	42.1	34,767	–16.8
	Liberal Democrats	40	14	N/A	N/A	1	29.2	29.1	24,010	+5.3
	Independent	8	4	N/A	N/A	3	8.3	7.4	6,111	+4.8
	Green	14	3	N/A	N/A	3	6.3	6.9	5,713	+3.7
	Labour	46	1	N/A	N/A	1	2.1	14.3	11,795	+3.5
	Britain First	1	0	N/A	N/A		0.0	0.1	108	N/A

Ward results

The results for each ward were as follows: ^[4]

Ashley, Bashley and Fernhill

Ashley, Bashley and Fernhill (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Blunden	981	50.3
	Conservative	Jill Cleary	972	49.8
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Scott-Johns	438	22.5
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Morgan	337	17.3
	Labour	Chloe Bellamy	308	15.8
	Green	Paul Moxey	271	13.9
	Labour	Kate Roberts	244	12.5
	Green	John Pemberton	149	7.6
Majority			534
Turnout			1,951	31
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Ashurst, Bramshaw, Copythorne and Netley Marsh

Ashurst, Bramshaw, Copythorne and Netley Marsh (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derek Tipp	1,027	46.7
	Independent	Joe Reilly	966	44.0
	Conservative	James Hartley-Binns	740	33.7
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Thompson	540	24.6
	Labour	Muriel Frend	350	15.9
	Labour	Tim Mawby	272	12.4
Majority
Turnout			2,197	36
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)

Ballard

Ballard (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Tungate	348	40.7
	Labour	Helen Wallis-Dowling	167	19.6
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Baker	137	16.0
	Britain First	Nick Lambert	108	12.6
	Green	Emily Morgan	94	11.0
Majority			181
Turnout			854	28
	Conservative win (new seat)

Barton and Becton

Barton and Becton (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Craze	1,147	56.3
	Conservative	Alan O'Sullivan	1,087	53.3
	Liberal Democrats	Rainer Preis	489	24.0
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Lewis	421	20.6
	Green	Kristina Bourdillon	310	15.2
	Green	Day Macaskill	216	10.6
	Labour	Pete Terry	200	9.8
Majority			598
Turnout			2,039	35
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Bransgore, Burley, Sopley and Ringwood East

Bransgore, Burley, Sopley and Ringwood East (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Nigel Linford	805	41.9
	Green	Neil Millington	725	37.7
	Conservative	John Adams	649	33.7
	Green	Anna Collar	581	30.2
	Conservative	Dean Samber	514	26.7
	Labour	Pippa Haywood	179	9.3
	Labour	Kevin Flack	130	6.8
Majority
Turnout			1,923	35
	Independent win (new seat)
	Green win (new seat)

Brockenhurst and Denny Lodge

Brockenhurst and Denny Lodge (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Adam Parker	671	50.9
	Conservative	Michael Harris	528	40.1
	Labour	Jon Horne	118	9.0
Majority
Turnout			1,317	44
	Green win (new seat)

Dibden and Dibden Purlieu

Dibden and Dibden Purlieu (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Wade	1,025	59.6
	Liberal Democrats	Stephanie Osborne	874	50.8
	Conservative	Emily Heron	506	29.4
	Conservative	David Twydell	455	26.5
	Labour	Leigh Smith	170	9.9
	Labour	Brian Wilkinson	137	8.0
Majority
Turnout			1,720	33
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Downlands and Forest North

Downlands and Forest North (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Janet Richards	562	49.0
	Conservative	Annie Bellows	496	43.2
	Labour	Martin Phillips	90	7.8
Majority
Turnout			1,148	41
	Green win (new seat)

Fawley, Blackfield, Calshot and Langley

Fawley, Blackfield, Calshot and Langley (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Alvey	747	50.3
	Conservative	Matthew Hartmann	693	46.6
	Liberal Democrats	Angela Pearson	499	33.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jeni Rose	451	30.3
	Labour	Patricia Gillam	214	14.4
	Labour	Michael Garside	206	13.9
Majority
Turnout			1,486	28
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Fordingbridge, Godshill and Hyde

Fordingbridge, Godshill and Hyde (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Millar	1,118	52.7
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Woods	1,085	51.1
	Conservative	Ann Sevier	725	34.2
	Conservative	Robert Heron	673	31.7
	Labour	Leila Cameron	270	12.7
	Labour	Jasmine Bessey	215	10.1
Majority
Turnout			2,122	35
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Forest and Solent

Forest and Solent (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dan Poole	554	52.8
	Green	James Gallagher	380	36.2
	Labour	Vincent Slattery	116	11.0
Majority
Turnout			1,050	37
	Conservative win (new seat)

Hardley, Holbury and North Blackfield

Hardley, Holbury and North Blackfield (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allan Glass	463	35.8
	Independent	Peter Armstrong	393	30.4
	Conservative	Josie Poole	375	29.0
	Independent	Paul Saunders	253	19.6
	Labour	Sherri Johnstone	238	18.4
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Read	236	18.3
	Labour	Ceri Roberts	221	17.1
	Liberal Democrats	David Cole	177	13.7
Majority
Turnout			1,292	25
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)

Hythe Central

Hythe Central (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Wade	1,112	56.1
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Dowd	970	49.0
	Conservative	Chris Harrison	741	37.4
	Conservative	Terri Marwood	685	34.6
	Labour	Ivan Caric	147	7.4
	Labour	Scott Saffin	128	6.5
Majority
Turnout			1,981	37
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Hythe South

Hythe South (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Clark	736	55.1
	Liberal Democrats	Sean Cullen	704	52.7
	Conservative	Eric Davey	364	27.3
	Conservative	Brenda Spearing	346	25.9
	Labour	Clare Davison	186	13.9
	Labour	Katherine Herbert	171	12.8
Majority
Turnout			1,335	25
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Lymington

Lymington (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Frank Dunning	962	41.6
	Independent	Jacqui England	880	38.0
	Conservative	Simon Smith	723	31.2
	Liberal Democrats	Hannah Phillips	586	25.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ted Jearrad	528	22.8
	Labour	Trina Hart	348	15.0
	Labour	Jerry Weber	250	10.8
Majority
Turnout			2,314	37
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)

Lyndhurst and Minstead

Lyndhurst and Minstead (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Hilary Brand	577	48.8
	Conservative	Brice Stratford	475	40.2
	Labour	Christopher Arthur Willsher	130	11.0
Majority			1,182	40
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Marchwood and Eling

Marchwood and Eling (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Young	938	50.9
	Liberal Democrats	Patrick Mballa	776	42.1
	Conservative	Sue Bennison	694	37.7
	Liberal Democrats	Lindsey Shelley	685	37.2
	Labour	Kenneth Kershaw	197	10.7
	Labour	Dave Moran	194	10.5
Majority
Turnout			1,842	31
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Milford and Hordle

Milford and Hordle (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Hawkins	1,418	43.6
	Conservative	Christine Ward	1,339	41.2
	Conservative	Alvin Reid	1,317	40.5
	Independent	Ivor Spreadbury	1,000	30.8
	Liberal Democrats	Emily Jagger	936	28.8
	Green	Dominic Boddington	827	25.4
	Liberal Democrats	Sandra Delemare	705	21.7
	Labour	Helen Sloan	488	15.0
	Labour	Stuart Nundy	335	10.3
Majority
Turnout			3,250	36
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Milton

Milton (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steve Davies	822	51.1
	Conservative	Steve Clarke	810	50.4
	Liberal Democrats	Wyn Davies	598	37.2
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Drayton	497	30.9
	Labour	Martin Ashman	295	18.3
Majority
Turnout			1,608	29
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Pennington

Pennington (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jack Davies	1,007	54.5
	Liberal Democrats	Colm McCarthy	785	42.5
	Conservative	Tom Brindley	612	33.1
	Conservative	Ian Mark Loveless	541	29.3
	Labour	Bronwen Bridges	283	15.3
	Labour	Joanna Sawkins	261	14.1
Majority
Turnout			1,847	30
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Ringwood North & Ellingham

Ringwood North & Ellingham (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Thierry	788	40.3
	Labour	John Haywood	754	38.6
	Labour	Peter Kelleher	746	38.2
	Conservative	Derek Scott	726	37.2
	Green	Jerry Fenner	253	12.9
	Liberal Democrats	Luke Dadford	248	12.7
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Barron	224	11.5
Majority
Turnout			1,954	32
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Ringwood South

Ringwood South (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeremy Heron	534	29.4
	Conservative	Stephen Rippon-Swaine	517	28.4
	Labour	James Swyer	487	26.8
	Labour	Glenys Turner	482	26.5
	Independent	Philip Day	481	26.4
	Independent	Gareth Deboos	464	25.5
	Green	Timothy Rowe	187	10.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jeremy Allen	180	9.9
	Liberal Democrats	Cameron McDonald	144	7.9
Majority
Turnout			1,819	31
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Sway

Sway (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Rickman	737	55.3
	Green	Simon Graham King	487	36.6
	Labour	Peter Francis John Dance	108	8.1
Majority
Turnout			1,332	46
	Conservative win (new seat)

Totton Central

Totton Central (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Sleep	647	36.1
	Conservative	Ian Murray	596	33.3
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Shepherd	568	31.7
	Liberal Democrats	Matt Kangarani	555	31.0
	Labour	Adrian Johnstone	330	18.4
	Labour	David Edward Smith	287	16.0
	Independent	Ian Coombes	243	13.6
	Independent	Frances Orchard	180	10.1
Majority
Turnout			1,791	32
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Totton North

Totton North (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neville Penman	1,054	50.4
	Conservative	Dave Penny	814	38.9
	Conservative	Kathleen Crisell	774	37.0
	Liberal Democrats	Lin Francis	505	24.1
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Brunsdon	501	23.9
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Hardingson	457	21.8
	Labour	Lynne Garrick	340	16.3
	Labour	Roland Bishop	333	15.9
	Labour	Kenneth Garrick	322	15.4
	Independent	Ron Scrivens	229	10.9
	Independent	Chris Lagdon	217	10.4
Majority
Turnout			2,092	25
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Totton South

Totton South (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Harrison	904	54.8
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Louise Rackham	695	42.1
	Conservative	Lisa Tracy Carter	607	36.8
	Conservative	Len Harris	506	30.7
	Labour	Alan Goodfellow	191	11.6
	Labour	Kit Rogers	157	9.5
Majority
Turnout			1,649	27
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Changes 2023-2027

By-elections

Bransgore, Burley, Sopley & Ringwood East

Bransgore, Burley, Sopley & Ringwood East by-election: 13 February 2025

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Frampton	997	60.0	+32.5
	Green	Barbara Czoch	314	18.9	–11.8
	Reform UK	Adam Elcock	257	15.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Iestyn Lewis	52	3.1	N/A
	Labour	Sally Johnston	42	2.5	–5.1
Majority			683	41.1	N/A
Turnout			1,663	30.0	–5.0
Registered electors			5,541
	Conservative gain from Green		Swing	22.2

References

1. "New Forest candidates in the local elections on May 4". Daily Echo. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
2. "Local elections 2023: Tories keep control of New Forest District Council but lose BCP Council". Lymington Times. May 5, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
3. "Local elections 2023: Conservatives lose grip on Hampshire stronghold". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
4. "District election results". New Forest District Council. Retrieved 25 September 2023.