2023 South Oxfordshire District Council election

2023 South Oxfordshire District Council election

←  2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 36 seats to South Oxfordshire District Council 19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	36.7%
First party Second party Third party   Leader David Rouane Robin Bennett Stefan Gawrysiak Party Liberal Democrats Green Henley Residents Last election 12 seats, 27.8% 5 seats, 13.8% 3 seats, 4.9% Seats won 21 8 3 Seat change 9 3 Popular vote 27,852 12,241 5,143 Percentage 35.8% 15.7% 6.6% Swing 8.0% 1.9% 1.7%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Mocky Khan Jane Murphy Party Labour Conservative Last election 3 seats, 10.4% 10 seats, 29.3% Seats won 3 1 Seat change 9 Popular vote 6,597 24,051 Percentage 8.5% 30.9% Swing 1.9% 1.6%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 South Oxfordshire District Council election
Leader before election David Rouane Liberal Democrat No overall control Leader after election David Rouane Liberal Democrat

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

Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, being run by a Liberal Democrat and Green coalition. The Liberal Democrats won a majority of seats at this election, although chose to continue to operate in partnership with the Greens.

Summary

Election result

The Liberal Democrats gained control (from No Overall Control) at this election. ^[2] The Conservatives lost all except one seat at this election, ^[3] with the Lib Dems and Green Party making gains. Labour and the Henley Residents Group retained three seats each. ^{[4] [5]}

2023 South Oxfordshire District Council election [2]
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	24	21	9	0	9	58.3	35.8	27,852	+8.0
	Green	12	8	3	0	3	22.2	15.7	12,241	+1.9
	Labour	10	3	0	0		8.3	8.5	6,597	–1.9
	Henley Residents	3	3	0	0		8.3	6.6	5,143	+1.7
	Conservative	36	1	0	9	9	2.8	30.9	24,051	+1.6
	Independent	3	0	0	3	3	0.0	1.5	1,154	–10.8
	SDP	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.7	515	N/A
	Reform UK	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.3	257	N/A

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by South Oxfordshire District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023. ^[6]

*= sitting councillor in this ward prior to election

Benson and Crowmarsh

Benson & Crowmarsh (2 seats) ^{[3] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Cooper*	1,589	63.2	+5.1
	Green	Andrea Powell*	1,534	61.0	+9.7
	Conservative	Felix Bloomfield	799	31.8	–1.3
	Conservative	Gary Flux	719	28.6	–2.6
Turnout			2,514	37.7	–5.6
Registered electors			6,664
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Green hold

Berinsfield

Berinsfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Robin Bennett*	761	80.0	+20.8
	Conservative	Bob Dhillon	190	20.0	–2.8
Majority			571	60.0
Turnout			964	32.9	–4.1
Registered electors			2,928
	Green hold		Swing	11.8

Chalgrove

Chalgrove

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Turner*	929	86.3	–0.8
	Conservative	Jit Patel	147	13.7	+0.8
Majority			782	72.6
Turnout			1,083	37.4	–5.8
Registered electors			2,895
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	0.8

Chinnor

Chinnor (2 seats) ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ed Sadler	1,354	54.3	+20.5
	Green	Ali Gordon-Creed	1,334	53.5	N/A
	Conservative	Louise Heathcote	1,082	43.4	–4.3
	Conservative	James Endean-Mills	919	36.9	–7.0
Turnout			2,492	34.9	+4.0
Registered electors			7,147
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Green gain from Conservative

Cholsey

Cholsey (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Anne-Marie Simpson*	1,634	53.4	+11.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Manning	1,387	45.3	N/A
	Independent	Sue Roberts	912	29.8	N/A
	Conservative	Jane Murphy*	808	26.4	–18.8
	Conservative	Paul Jackson	697	22.8	–14.0
	SDP	Kyn Pomlett	188	6.1	N/A
Turnout			3,059	42.1	+3.3
Registered electors			7,264
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Didcot North East

Didcot North East (3 seats) ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Rouane*	1,471	55.7	+29.9
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Tinsley	1,237	46.9	+14.9
	Liberal Democrats	Zia Mohammed	1,213	45.9	+20.4
	Conservative	Andrea Warren*	739	28.0	+4.0
	Conservative	Alan Thompson*	731	27.7	+5.5
	Conservative	Annah Francisco	665	25.2	+4.2
	Labour	Craig Wilson	548	20.8	–0.1
	Labour	George Ryall	493	18.7	+3.6
	Labour	Phil Wheeler	425	16.1	+2.3
Turnout			2,640	33.4	–1.7
Registered electors			7,894
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent
	Liberal Democrats hold

Didcot South

Didcot South (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Mocky Khan*	1,237	45.9	+8.6
	Labour Co-op	Denise Macdonald	1,056	39.2	+6.7
	Labour Co-op	Axel Macdonald*	926	34.3	+2.9
	Conservative	Anthony Dearlove	765	28.4	–1.8
	Green	Sarah Nohre	702	26.0	–4.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Loder	635	23.6	–5.0
	Conservative	Tom Wiltshire	611	22.7	–5.0
	Conservative	Thomas Skuse	590	21.9	–2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Macdonald	500	18.5	–9.7
	SDP	Owen Edwards	327	12.1	N/A
	Reform UK	Peter Shields	106	3.9	N/A
Turnout			2,696	28.4	+0.4
Registered electors			9,492
	Labour Co-op hold
	Labour Co-op hold
	Labour Co-op hold

Didcot West

Didcot West (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Snowdon*	791	41.2	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Worgan	630	32.8	+6.2
	Green	Adam Grindey	577	30.1	+2.3
	Conservative	Lee Marsden	574	29.9	–3.4
	Labour	James Broadbent	566	29.5	–2.0
	Labour	Nick Hards	509	26.5	+0.2
Turnout			1,920	32.4	+3.4
Registered electors			5,933
	Conservative hold
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Forest Hill and Holton

Forest Hill & Holton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Bearder*	837	71.9	+15.7
	Conservative	Greg Flynn	327	28.1	–5.9
Majority			510	43.8
Turnout			1,189	43.3	+1.9
Registered electors			2,749
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	10.8

Garsington and Horspath

Garsington & Horspath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sam James-Lawrie	414	38.9	+15.9
	Conservative	Fiona Ardern	257	24.1	–25.9
	Independent	Sue Lawson	242	22.7	N/A
	Labour	Stuart Macbeth	109	10.2	–4.3
	Green	James Meyer-Bejdl	43	4.0	–8.5
Majority			157	14.8
Turnout			1,068	37.8	+3.0
Registered electors			2,828
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	20.9

Goring

Goring

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Maggie Filipova-Rivers*	1,098	73.3	+27.3
	Conservative	Kevin Bulmer	400	26.7	–12.5
Majority			698	46.6
Turnout			1,520	48.1	+4.4
Registered electors			3,162
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	19.9

Haseley Brook

Haseley Brook

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Georgina Heritage	741	59.7	+15.3
	Conservative	Richard Newman	501	40.3	–6.5
Majority			240	19.4
Turnout			1,250	37.6	–1.0
Registered electors			3,322
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	10.9

Henley-on-Thames

Henley-on-Thames (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Henley Residents	Stefan Gawrysiak*	1,934	59.7	–1.8
	Henley Residents	Ken Arlett*	1,652	51.0	–2.4
	Henley Residents	Kellie Hinton*	1,557	48.0	–6.3
	Conservative	Lorraine Hillier	1,014	31.3	+0.6
	Conservative	Dave Adkins	793	24.5	–3.6
	Green	Helen Fraser	730	22.5	N/A
	Conservative	Hugh Legh	664	20.5	–3.7
	Liberal Democrats	John Powell	612	18.9	+6.3
Turnout			3,241	34.3	–6.2
Registered electors			9,444
	Henley Residents hold
	Henley Residents hold
	Henley Residents hold

Kidmore End and Whitchurch

Kidmore End & Whitchurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Peter Dragonetti*	717	62.5	N/A
	Conservative	Jim Donahue	430	37.5	+12.9
Majority			287	25.0
Turnout			1,145	40.3	–0.4
Registered electors			2,840
	Green gain from Independent		Swing	N/A

Dragonetti had previously stood as an Independent, but was re-elected to the seat this time as a Green Party councillor. ^[4]

Sandford and the Wittenhams

Sandford & the Wittenhams

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Sam Casey-Rerhaye*	895	74.0	+0.6
	Conservative	Edwin Samu	315	26.0	–0.6
Majority			580	48.0
Turnout			1,225	39.0	–4.9
Registered electors			3,144
	Green hold		Swing	0.6

Sonning Common

Sonning Common (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Leigh Rawlins*	1,250	55.4	+30.5
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Giles	1,135	50.3	N/A
	Conservative	David Bartholomew*	979	43.4	–0.4
	Conservative	Bruce Harrison	902	39.9	+7.5
Turnout			2,258	39.0	–1.0
Registered electors			5,788
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Rawlins was elected in 2019 as an Independent

Thame

Thame (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Kate Gregory*	1,943	57.7	+14.7
	Liberal Democrats	David Bretherton*	1,939	57.6	+15.2
	Liberal Democrats	Pieter-Paul Barker*	1,862	55.3	+22.1
	Conservative	David Dodds	1,093	32.5	+4.5
	Conservative	William Hall	793	23.6	–4.0
	Conservative	Dylan Thomas	765	22.7	–4.3
	Labour	Steven Hartridge	728	21.6	+7.2
Turnout			3,366	34.1	–1.3
Registered electors			9,872
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Wallingford

Wallingford (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	James Barlow	2,032	76.4	+25.2
	Liberal Democrats	Katharine Keats-Rohan	1,762	66.2	+26.2
	Conservative	Adrian Lloyd	609	22.9	–0.3
	Conservative	Chidinma Okolo	363	13.6	–8.8
Turnout			2,660	41.5	+2.2
Registered electors			6,412
	Green hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Watlington

Watlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Freddie van Mierlo	916	69.6	+21.1
	Conservative	Harry Petano-Heathcote	400	30.4	–21.1
Majority			516	39.2
Turnout			1,330	40.9	–1.1
Registered electors			3,255
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	21.1

Wheatley

Wheatley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alexandrine Kantor*	774	66.6	+2.4
	Conservative	Lizzie Tully	389	33.4	+7.3
Majority			385	33.2
Turnout			1,179	36.1	+0.2
Registered electors			3,270
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	2.5

Woodcote and Rotherfield

Woodcote & Rotherfield (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Jo Robb*	1,529	58.2	+16.0
	Green	James Norman	1,387	52.8	+13.2
	Conservative	Julian Kingsbury	1,028	39.1	–10.3
	Conservative	Pauline Vahey	902	34.3	–4.5
	Reform UK	David Carpin	151	5.8	N/A
Turnout			2,626	40.2	+4.6
Registered electors			6,527
	Green hold
	Green gain from Conservative

References

1. "Notice of election" (PDF). South Oxfordshire District Council. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
2. "Elections 2023 - South Oxfordshire election result". BBC News . Retrieved 8 May 2023.
3. Tait, Albert (5 May 2023). "South Ox and Vale election results: Full breakdown". Oxford Mail . Retrieved 8 May 2023.
4. "Local elections 2023: Conservatives suffer losses throughout South Oxfordshire". Henley Standard . 5 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
5. "Leader and cabinet members confirmed for South Oxfordshire District Council". South Oxfordshire District Council. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
6. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). South Oxfordshire District Council. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
7. "Election Results - Wards". South Oxfordshire District Council. Retrieved 8 May 2023.