2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election

2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election

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All 35 seats to Surrey Heath Borough Council 18 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Sashi Mylvaganam Alan McClafferty [1] Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Independent Last election 10 seats, 28.6% 18 seats, 51.4% 4 seats, 11.4% Seats before 9 18 5 [a] Seats won 24 6 3 Seat change 14 12 1 Popular vote 28,416 22,912 3,927 Percentage 48.8% 39.4% 6.7% Swing 20.4% 7.4% 3.7%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Sharon Galliford Party Labour Green Last election 1 seat, 2.9% 2 seats, 5.7% Seats before 1 2 Seats won 2 0 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 2,428 145 Percentage 4.2% 0.2% Swing 1.8% 4.7%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election
Leader before election Alan McClafferty Conservative No overall control Leader after election David Whitcroft Liberal Democrats

The 2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect 32 of 35 members of Surrey Heath Borough Council in England. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} It was held on the same day as other local elections. The Liberal Democrats took control of the council from a minority Conservative administration. ^{[6] [2]}

Overview

Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, being led by a Conservative minority administration. The election in the Frimley Green ward was postponed until 15 June 2023 following the death of one of the original candidates. ^{[7] [8]} Of the seats where elections were held on 5 May, the Liberal Democrats won 21 seats, enough to give them an overall majority on the council for the first time in its history. ^[9]

The Liberal Democrat group leader before the election, Sashi Mylvaganam, was a candidate in Frimley Green ward and so had to wait until 15 June to see if he would be re-elected. As such, the party chose David Whitcroft instead to be the new leader of the council, being appointed at the subsequent annual meeting of the council on 17 May 2023. ^[10] The Liberal Democrats won all three seats in the postponed Frimley Green election, with Sashi Mylvaganam returning to the council. The party then reconsidered its leadership, but chose to appoint neither Whitcroft nor Mylvaganam as its leader, appointing instead Shaun Macdonald. He was subsequently confirmed as the new leader of the council on 28 June 2023. ^[11]

Results summary

2023 Surrey Heath Borough Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	31 [12]	24	15	1	14	68.6	48.8	28,416	+20.4
	Conservative	35	6	2	14	12	17.1	39.4	22,912	–7.4
	Independent	7	3	0	1	1	8.6	6.7	3,927	–3.7
	Labour	7	2	2	1	1	5.7	4.2	2,428	–1.8
	Green	1	0	0	2	2	0.0	0.2	145	–4.7
	Reform	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.6	372	N/A

Ward results

The results for each ward were: ^[13]

Bagshot

Bagshot (3 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Gordon	1,061	55.1	+16.7
	Conservative	Valerie White*	978	50.8	+8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Wilson	681	35.4	−16.2
	Conservative	Frank Du Cann	677	35.2	+1.2
	Liberal Democrats	Cathy Whitcroft	676	35.1	−9.3
	Liberal Democrats	Zee Virani	599	31.1	−8.7
	Independent	Andrew Willgoss	364	18.9	N/A
	Reform	Sam Goggin	202	10.5	N/A
Turnout			1,924	34.1
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats
	Conservative hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Bisley and West End

Bisley and West End (3 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Noble*	1,312	57.5	+34.4
	Liberal Democrats	Sarbie Kang	902	39.5	+18.7
	Liberal Democrats	Ying Perrett	863	37.8	+21.0
	Conservative	Adrian Page*	753	33.0	−13.6
	Conservative	Tony Henderson	702	30.8	−12.5
	Conservative	Alex Hanney	625	27.4	−12.6
	Independent	Graham Alleway*	598	26.2	−16.3
	Independent	Adrian Keeling	408	17.9	N/A
Turnout			2,281	32.9
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent

Frimley

Frimley (2 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Ashbery	783	60.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	David O'Mahoney	722	56.1	N/A
	Conservative	Sarah Croke*	511	39.7	−29.9
	Conservative	Darryl Ratiram*	397	30.9	−36.0
Turnout			1286	34.5
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Frimley Green

Following the death of a candidate in Frimley Green ward (three members) the election was countermanded. A poll took place on the 15th June 2023, with Attieh Fard replacing the late Karen Campion. ^[8]

Frimley Green (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jacques Olmo	1,131	61.4	+6.7
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Whitcroft	1,111	60.3	+5.9
	Liberal Democrats	Sashi Mylvaganam*	1,070	58.1	+10.4
	Conservative	Stuart Black	738	42.4	+10.1
	Conservative	Howard Thomson	610	33.1	+2.6
	Conservative	Attieh Fard	608	33.0	+5.1
Turnout			1842	35.6
Registered electors			5,174
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Heatherside

Heatherside (3 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John Skipper*	1,613	65.3	+17.2
	Liberal Democrats	Louise Ashbery	1,559	63.1	+10.0
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Raikes	1,512	61.2	+16.0
	Conservative	Julia Wood	829	33.5	−5.5
	Conservative	Simon Dickens	819	33.1	−2.9
	Conservative	Dave Henry	811	32.8	+0.8
Turnout			2471	43.1
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Lightwater

Lightwater (3 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Julie Hoad	1,184	52.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Shaun MacDonald	1,128	49.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Thompson	1,080	47.6	N/A
	Conservative	Katia Malcaus Cooper	966	42.6	+3.3
	Conservative	Rebecca Jennings-Evans*	943	41.5	−2.6
	Conservative	James Harris	840	37.0	−1.3
	Reform	Peter Appleford	170	7.5	−7.2
	Labour	Tom Johnson	144	6.3	N/A
Turnout			2270	42.7
	Liberal Democrats gain from Green
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Green

Mytchett and Deepcut

Mytchett and Deepcut (3 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Whitcroft	995	54.9	+10.3
	Liberal Democrats	Morgan Rise*	961	53.0	+12.3
	Liberal Democrats	Cliff Betton	950	52.4	+11.8
	Conservative	Attieh Fard	752	41.5	−10.4
	Conservative	Lawrence Alexander	747	41.2	+8.3
	Conservative	David Natolie	661	36.4	+4.2
Turnout			1814	32.0
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Old Dean

Old Dean (2 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Shaun Garrett*	563	58.9	+10.7
	Conservative	Lewis Mears	504	52.7	+5.5
	Labour	Heather Gibbs	393	41.1	−9.1
	Labour	Brian Gibbs	382	40.0	−0.9
Turnout			957	24.8
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Labour

Parkside

Parkside (2 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Rob Lee	837	54.6	+20.3
	Liberal Democrats	Nirmal Kang	833	54.3	+28.7
	Conservative	Louise Grainger	653	42.6	−14.8
	Conservative	Steed Bennett	642	41.9	−12.4
Turnout			1534	39.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

St Michael's

St Michael's (2 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jonathan Quin	684	56.5	+17.6
	Labour	Murray Rowlands	661	54.6	+15.7
	Conservative	Chris Buxton	503	41.6	−16.3
	Conservative	Gregory Mwenkentishi	417	34.5	−18.9
Turnout			1210	28.1
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative

St Paul's

St Paul's (2 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonny Cope	714	48.5	−19.2
	Conservative	Josh Thorne	692	47.0	−15.7
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Browne	673	45.7	+14.0
	Liberal Democrats	Matt Hodges-Long	654	44.4	+16.9
	Labour	Manuela Radeva	83	5.6	N/A
	Labour	George Ridgway	81	5.5	N/A
Turnout			1472	38.1
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Town

Town (2 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Glauert	706	59.6	+18.8
	Liberal Democrats	Leanne MacIntyre	690	58.3	+22.6
	Conservative	Nathan Drury	457	38.6	−19.8
	Conservative	Ricky Singh	414	35.0	−19.0
Turnout			1184	29.2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Watchetts

Watchetts (2 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lisa Finan-Cooke	831	59.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Kel Finan-Cooke	823	58.8	N/A
	Conservative	Caroline Adam-Holboj	533	38.1	−23.1
	Conservative	Benedict Dias	511	36.5	−23.4
Turnout			1400	34.9
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

Windlesham and Chobham

Windlesham and Chobham (3 seats) ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Victoria Wheeler*	864	43.6	−21.1
	Independent	Pat Tedder*	790	39.9	−22.3
	Independent	Emma-Jane McGrath*	611	30.8	−22.1
	Conservative	Justin Cars	535	27.0	−3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Amy Moqbel	534	26.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Jack Massarano	513	25.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Sara Ibrahim	490	24.7	N/A
	Conservative	Abu Bakar	394	19.9	−5.2
	Conservative	Faaris Khan	352	17.8	−5.0
	Independent	Alison Hook	292	14.7	−6.3
	Green	Clare Relton	145	7.3	N/A
Turnout			1982	35.6
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
	Independent hold

Changes 2023-2027

Affiliation changes

Sashi Mylvaganam defected to Independent before joining the Conservative group in 2024.

By-elections

Old Dean

Old Dean by-election: 24 October 2024

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Hough	394	44.7	N/A
	Conservative	Catherine Gibbard	278	31.6	–27.3
	Reform	Sam Goggin	109	12.4	N/A
	Labour	Charlie Wilson	96	10.9	–30.2
	Independent	Tal Belnik	4	0.5	N/A
Majority			116	13.1	N/A
Turnout			881	22.6	–2.2
Registered electors			3,894
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative

References

1. Of the five independents on the council before the election, two formed a group called the "Camberley Independents", led by Richard Brooks, and the other three formed a group called the "Community Group" with the one Labour councillor, led by Victoria Wheeler.

1. "Your councillors by political grouping". Surrey Heath Borough Council. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
2. "Surrey Heath result - Local Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
3. "Borough and Parish Elections 2023". Surrey Heath Borough Council . Retrieved 9 April 2023.
4. "Election timetable in England". UK Government . Retrieved 10 April 2023.
5. "All the Surrey Heath local election 2023 candidates in full". Surrey Advertiser . Retrieved 13 April 2023.
6. "Surrey Heath | England Councils 2023 - Election Results | Sky News". election.news.sky.com. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
7. Caulfield, Chris (24 April 2023). "Well-loved mum and Surrey election candidate has passed away". SurreyLive. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
8. NOTICE OF CANCELLED ELECTION, Surrey Heath Borough council returning officer.
9. "Surrey election results 2023: Conservatives lose seats across the county". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
10. "Annual Full Council 2023 - Leader and Executive announced". Surrey Heath Borough Council. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
11. Caulfield, Chris (28 June 2023). "Surrey Heath leader announced as councillor who's worked just 58 days". Surrey Live. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
12. "Statement of Persons Nominated - Borough Elections". Surrey Heath Borough Council . Retrieved 9 April 2023.
13. "Borough elections 2023". Surrey Heath Borough Council. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
14. "Borough elections 2023 results". www.surreyheath.gov.uk. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.