2023 Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council election

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
All 41 seats to Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council 21 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Simon Werner Andrew Johnson (defeated) Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Borough First Last election 9 seats, 25.3% 23 seats, 42.8% 3 seats, 12.1% Seats before 10[lower-alpha 1] 22 3 Seats after 22 7 7 Seat change 13 16 4   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Residents Flood Prevention Independent Last election 5 seats, 6.9% 1 seat, 1.2% 1 seat, 1.3% Seats before 4 1 1 Seats after 4[lower-alpha 2] 1 0 Seat change 1
Result and the vote share of the top candidate in each ward
Leader before election Andrew Johnson Conservative Leader after election Simon Werner Liberal Democrats

The 2023 Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council in Berkshire, England.^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections. The election saw the Liberal Democrats win a majority of the seats on the council, which had previously been under Conservative control.

Overview

Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council had been under Conservative majority control since 2007. The Conservative leader of the council was Andrew Johnson, who had been leader since 2019. Prior to the election, there were six registered political parties represented on the council (two of which were Residents' Associations) and one independent councillor. The Old Windsor Residents' Association, The Borough First Independents, and the one independent councillor had all formed a political group called the "Local Independents", led by Lynne Jones.^[2] There was one vacancy on the council immediately before the election, where a Liberal Democrat councillor for Belmont ward had resigned in March 2023.^[3]

The election saw the Liberal Democrats win 22 of the 41 seats on the council, up from 10 before the election, giving them an overall majority. The Conservatives saw their number of seats fall from 22 to 7.^[4] One of the Conservatives to lose their seat was the leader of the council, Andrew Johnson.^[5]

The Liberal Democrat leader, Simon Werner, was formally appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 23 May 2023.^[6] The Conservatives appointed Maureen Hunt to be their new leader in opposition.^[7]

Before the election, the composition of the council was:

After the election, the composition of the council became:

Summary

Election result

2023 Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	32	22	13	0	13	53.7	44.6	39,208	+19.3
	Conservative	41	7	0	16	16	17.1	29.4	25,857	-13.4
	The Borough First	10	7	4	0	4	17.1	10.0	8,832	-2.1
	Residents	4	4	0	1	1	9.8	4.7	4,180	-2.2
	Flood Prevention	1	1	0	0		2.4	1.2	1,099
	Labour	26	0	0	0		0.0	6.0	5,295	-3.1
	Green	6	0	0	0		0.0	1.9	1,642	+0.9
	Independent	5	0	0	1	1	0.0	1.0	1,767	-1.3
	Reform UK	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	123	New

Candidates

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.

References