2023 West Oxfordshire District Council election

2023 West Oxfordshire District Council election

←  2022 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2024  →
17 out of 49 seats to West Oxfordshire District Council 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Andy Graham Michele Mead [1] Duncan Enright Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Labour Last election 14 seats, 36.0% 23 seats, 37.4% 8 seats, 19.3% Seats before 15 19 9 Seats won 6 6 4 Seats after 18 17 10 Seat change 3 3 1 Popular vote 6,581 8,642 4,889 Percentage 28.2% 37.1% 21.0% Swing 7.8% 0.3% 1.7%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Rosie Pearson Richard Langridge Party Green Independent Last election 2 seats, 6.4% 2 seats, 0.8% Seats before 2 3 Seats won 1 0 Seats after 3 1 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 2,112 947 Percentage 9.1% 9.1% Swing 2.7% 2.7%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 West Oxfordshire District Council election
Leader before election Andy Graham Liberal Democrat No overall control Leader after election Andy Graham Liberal Democrat No overall control

The 2023 West Oxfordshire District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of West Oxfordshire District Council in Oxfordshire, England. ^[2] This was on the same day as other local elections in England. There were 17 of the 49 seats on the council being contested, being the usual nominal third of the council.

Summary

Prior to the election the council was under no overall control. The Conservatives were the largest party, but the council was run by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Greens, led by Liberal Democrat councillor Andy Graham. The council remained under no overall control after the election; the Liberal Democrats overtook the Conservatives to become the largest party, and the same coalition continued to run the council. ^{[3] [4]}

Election result

2023 West Oxfordshire District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	6	3	35.3	12	18	36.7	6,581	28.2	–7.8
	Conservative	6	3	35.3	11	17	34.7	8,642	37.1	–0.3
	Labour	4	1	23.5	6	10	20.4	4,889	21.0	+1.7
	Green	1	1	5.9	2	3	6.1	2,112	9.1	+2.7
	Independent	0	2	0.0	1	1	2.0	947	4.1	+3.3
	Heritage	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	129	0.6	+0.4

The overall turnout was 36.37%, from an electorate of 64,450 people. ^[5]

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by West Oxfordshire District Council following the close of nominations on 4 April 2023. ^[6] The results by ward were as below. ^[5]

Alvescot and Filkins

Alvescot and Filkins

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward James	285	47.1	-1.9
	Independent	Pete Handley	122	20.2	N/A
	Labour	George Richmond	121	20.0	+1.0
	Green	Miles Gibson	77	12.7	+1.6
Majority			163	26.9
Turnout			605	42.67
Registered electors			1,425
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bampton and Clanfield

Bampton and Clanfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alistair Wray	638	46.8	+0.1
	Conservative	Ted Fenton*	606	44.4	+0.7
	Green	Matt Morton	67	4.9	+0.4
	Labour	Georgia Meadows	53	3.9	-1.2
Majority			32	2.4
Turnout			1,364	40.62
Registered electors			3,380
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Carterton North East

Carterton North East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Melvin	515	49.5	+5.4
	Conservative	Emma Leeming	364	35.0	-9.6
	Labour	Shaun Harley	108	10.4	N/A
	Heritage	Stephen Breedon	53	5.1	N/A
Majority			151	14.5
Turnout			1,040	25.57
Registered electors			4,095
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Carterton North West

Carterton North West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Godfrey	550	46.0	+7.6
	Conservative	Jill Bull*	424	35.5	-2.5
	Labour Co-op	Dave Wesson	95	7.9	+1.3
	Heritage	David Cox	76	6.4	+3.1
	Green	Tony Barrett	51	4.3	N/A
Majority			126	10.5
Turnout			1,196	30.79
Registered electors			3,910
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Carterton South

Carterton South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michele Mead*	437	43.4	-21.6
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Wood	400	39.7	+4.7
	Labour	Marion Harley	105	10.4	N/A
	No Description	Lynn Little	65	6.5	N/A
Majority			37	3.7
Turnout			1,007	30.38
Registered electors			3,338
	Conservative hold		Swing

Charlbury and Finstock

Charlbury and Finstock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andy Graham*	844	59.0	+4.4
	Conservative	Caspar Morris	337	23.6	-1.6
	Green	Liz Reason	141	9.9	-2.8
	Labour Co-op	Sian O'Neill	108	7.6	+0.1
Majority			507	35.4
Turnout			1,430	47.2
Registered electors			3,038
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Chipping Norton

Chipping Norton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Mark Walker	672	38.9	-22.1
	Conservative	Peter Burns	393	22.7	-7.2
	Independent	Mike Cahill*	370	21.4	N/A
	Green	Arron Baker	181	10.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ivan Aguado Melet	113	6.5	-2.6
Majority			279	16.2
Turnout			1,729	30.68
Registered electors			5,662
	Labour Co-op gain from Independent		Swing

Ducklington

Ducklington (by-election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Adrian Walsh	355	41.8	-6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Cosier	347	40.9	N/A
	Labour	Reuben Oreffo	147	17.3	-22.4
Majority			8	0.9
Turnout			849	40.94
Registered electors			2,096
	Conservative hold		Swing

Eynsham and Cassington

Eynsham and Cassington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Dan Levy*	1,149	57.7	-5.4
	Conservative	Sean Grace	486	24.4	+2.5
	Green	Nicholas Goodwin	167	8.4	+2.0
	Labour	Jacob Withington	149	7.5	-1.0
	Independent	Ricardo Silva	40	2.0	N/A
Majority			663	33.3
Turnout			1,991	39.81
Registered electors			5,019
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield

Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liam Walker	704	49.1	-6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Marsh	631	44.0	-0.9
	Labour	Georgia Mazower	100	7.0	N/A
Majority			73	5.1
Turnout			1,435	42.44
Registered electors			3,400
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kingham, Rollright and Enstone

Kingham, Rollright and Enstone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Beaney*	570	50.1	-4.2
	Green	Barry Wheatley	339	29.8	+17.6
	Labour Co-op	David Heyes	229	20.1	-4.2
Majority			231	20.3
Turnout			1,138	35.91
Registered electors			3,194
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stonesfield and Tackley

Stonesfield and Tackley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Sumner	708	45.6	+5.6
	Conservative	Richard Jackson	512	33.0	-5.6
	Labour	Kate England	173	11.2	+3.2
	Green	Genny Early	158	10.2	-3.2
Majority			196	12.6
Turnout			1,551	45.29
Registered electors			3,440
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Witney Central

Witney Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Lyon	565	42.2	-10.7
	Conservative	Abdul Mubin	550	41.1	+6.8
	Green	Harriet Kopinska	114	8.5	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Morgenroth	109	8.1	+3.6
Majority			15	1.1
Turnout			1,338	31.61
Registered electors			4,265
	Labour hold		Swing

Witney East

Witney East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Joy Aitman*	877	41.5	-6.0
	Conservative	James Robertshaw	828	39.2	+3.2
	Green	Ben Fleetwood	246	11.6	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Hannah Bailey	163	7.7	-1.1
Majority			49	2.3
Turnout			2,114	37.42
Registered electors			5,668
	Labour hold		Swing

Witney North

Witney North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Sandra Simpson	493	36.4	-5.3
	Independent	Richard Langridge*	350	25.8	N/A
	Conservative	Toby Morris	298	22.0	-9.3
	Labour	Andy Bailey	214	15.8	-6.8
Majority			143	10.6
Turnout			1,355	44.93
Registered electors			3,029
	Green gain from Independent		Swing

Witney South

Witney South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rachel Crouch	766	46.3	+0.2
	Conservative	David Edwards-Hughes	728	44.0	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Whitten	161	9.7	N/A
Majority			38	2.3
Turnout			1,655	35.28
Registered electors			4,754
	Labour hold		Swing

Witney West

Witney West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Ashby	765	50.9	-1.6
	Labour Co-op	Stuart McCarroll	407	27.1	-2.7
	Liberal Democrats	David Smith	253	16.8	+6.1
	Green	Frances Mortimer	78	5.2	-1.8
Majority			358	23.8
Turnout			1,503	31.96
Registered electors			4,737
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. "Your councillors". West Oxfordshire District Council. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
2. "Notice of Election" (PDF). West Oxfordshire District Council. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
3. Halford, Ed (5 May 2023). "Election 2023: Full breakdown of West Oxfordshire results". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
4. "Local Elections 2023: Conservatives lose only council in Oxfordshire". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
5. "Declaration of Result of Poll" (PDF). West Oxfordshire District Council. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
6. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). West Oxfordshire District Council. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.