2023 Dartford Borough Council election

The 2023 Dartford Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect all 42 members of Dartford Borough Council in Kent, England.[2]

2023 Dartford Borough Council election
4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
All 42 seats to Dartford Borough Council
22 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Jeremy Kite Kelly Grehan Laura Edie[lower-alpha 1]
Party Conservative Labour Green
Leader's seat Longfield, New Barn & Southfleet Temple Hill Newtown
Last election 29 seats, 53.1% 10 seats, 29.4% 0 seats, 0.6%
Seats before 31 7 1
Seats won 29 11 1
Seat change Steady0 Increase1 Increase1
Percentage 55.8% 34.9% 4.2%
Swing Increase3.0% Increase5.1% Increase3.6%
Leader before election

Jeremy Kite
Conservative

 Leader after election

Jeremy Kite
Conservative

This election took place alongside other elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.

Background

Council Term

After Cllr Jonathon Hawkes, leader of the Labour Group, lost his seat, Cllr Sacha Gosine was elected as the new Leader of the Opposition. He was replaced by Cllr Kelly Galvin in 2022. Between 2019-2023, the Labour Group lost 3 councillors. Deputy Leader Cllr Adrian Oakley-Dow resigned from the party following the election of a new Deputy. Around this time, Cllr Romana Gosine was expelled by the party for an alleged "breach of the rules".[3]. Cllr Laura Edie left the Labour Party after criticising the national party's policies, and sat as a Green Party councillor for the remainder of her term. She was re-elected as a Green councillor in 2023.[4]

In April 2021, 2 councillors from the Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents Association, Cllrs Sue Butterfill and Anita Barham, left the party to form a new Independent Party Group. They later joined the Conservative Party. Cllr Barham stood as a Conservative candidate in Swanscombe in 2023, but was not elected.[5]

Cllr Ann Allen died in October 2021, triggering a by-election in Maypole & Leyton Cross. Cllr Lucas Reynolds also stood down for personal reasons, triggering a by-election in Wilmington, Sutton-At-Hone & Hawley. Both seats were held by the Conservatives with large majorities.[6]

In May 2022, it was announced that Cllr Laura Edie and Cllr Peter Harman (of the Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents Association) had formed the Alliance Group together.[7]

A by-election was also held in February 2023, once again in Wilmington, Sutton-At-Hone & Hawley, where the Conservative majority was increased.[8]

Election result
2023 Dartford Borough Council election
Party Candidates Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Conservative 42 29 1 1 Steady0 69.0 55.8 +3.0
  Labour 42 11 2 1 Increase1 26.2 34.9 +5.1
  Green 9 1 1 0 Increase1 2.4 4.2 +3.6
  Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents Association 4 1 0 2 Decrease2 2.4 3.3 -2.1
  Reform UK 5 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.0 N/A
  Britain First 2 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 N/A
  Independent 1 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0
  Liberal Democrats 1 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0

Candidates

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Dartford Borough Council following the close of nominations on 4 April 2023.[9]

Bean & Village Park
Bean & Village Park
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Hammock* 392 74.5 -7.0
Labour Graham Windram 134 25.5 +7.0
Turnout 526 27.42
Conservative hold Swing

Brent
Brent (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rosanna Currans* 840 63.4 +1.5
Conservative Peter Whapshott 718 54.2 -2.5
Labour Sarah Crook 359 27.1 +4.4
Labour Marian Benford 355 26.8 +5.8
Green Claire Edie 130 9.8 N/A
Liberal Democrats Cullen O'Donnell 63 4.8 N/A
Turnout 1,324 30.33
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing

Bridge
Bridge
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Clement Quaqumey 316 61.5 -0.8
Labour Peter Grehan 198 38.5 +16.7
Turnout 514 19.93 -5.17
Conservative hold Swing

Burnham
Burnham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Matthew Davis* 358 56.1 +5.1
Labour Amanda Cook 280 43.9 -5.1
Turnout 638 28.94
Conservative hold Swing

Darenth
Darenth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Denman 215 35.8 -11.6
Labour Catherine Stafford 207 34.5 +2.9
Independent Tony Prentice 117 19.5 N/A
Britain First Nicholas Scanlon 61 10.2 N/A
Turnout 600 30.32
Conservative hold Swing

Ebbsfleet
Ebbsfleet (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Danny Nicklen* 615 55.3 +17.5
Labour Jonathon Hawkes 535 48.1 +8.5
Labour Victoria Akintomie-Akinwamide 507 45.6 +7.0
Labour Victoria Oguntope 479 43.1 +6.2
Conservative Subhash Goswami 406 36.5 +9.9
Conservative Edith Nwachukwu 392 35.3 +12.7
Turnout 1,112 27.51
Conservative hold Swing
Labour hold Swing
Labour hold Swing

Greenhithe & Knockhall
Greenhithe & Knockhall (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SGRA Peter Harman* 623 51.7 +8.0
Conservative David Mote* 499 41.4 +2.9
Conservative Carol Gale 359 29.8 +0.1
SGRA Dawn Johnston 354 29.4 -14.4
Conservative Safiul Azam 345 28.7 +0.7
SGRA Elizabeth Wickham 335 27.8 -5.3
Labour Lisa Bullock 270 22.4 +5.4
Labour Joshua Grills 224 18.6 +5.7
Labour James Ray 205 17.0 +4.2
Turnout 1,204 22.40
SGRA hold Swing
Conservative gain from SGRA Swing
Conservative hold Swing

Heath
Heath (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Andrew Lloyd* 910 62.5 -0.9
Conservative Patsy Thurlow* 837 57.4 +1.5
Labour David Celino-Stock 405 27.8 +4.5
Labour Sally Wainwright 243 16.7 -6.0
Reform UK Michael Brown 141 9.7 N/A
Turnout 1,457 33.10
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing

Joyden's Wood
Joyden's Wood (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Brian Garden* 1,131 80.6 +6.4
Conservative Marilyn Peters* 1,067 76.0 +1.8
Labour Carole Jones 253 18.0 +5.3
Labour Peter Summers 245 17.5 +7.2
Turnout 1,404 34.28
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing

Longfield, New Barn & Southfleet
Longfield, New Barn & Southfleet (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Steven Brown* 1,406 25.5
Conservative Jeremy Kite* 1,431 26.0
Conservative Roger Perfitt* 1,317 23.9
Green Alastair Humphreys 256 4.6
Labour Timothy Cook 388 7.0
Labour Allan Fisher 327 5.9
Labour Lacey Povey 375 6.8

Maypole & Leyton Cross
Maypole & Leyton Cross
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Kyle Stealey* 435 68.7 -15.4
Labour David Brooker 198 31.2 +15.4
Turnout 633 29.3 +2.6
Conservative hold Swing


Newtown
Newtown (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Debbie Graham 528 38.9 -3.2
Green Laura Edie* 509 37.5 +24.9
Labour Jonathan Wynne 401 29.5 -9.7
Conservative Andrew Mensah 399 29.4 -6.6
Conservative Sheun Oke 365 26.9 -6.8
Green Julian Hood 348 25.6 N/a
Turnout 1355 33.18 -2.02
Labour hold Swing
Green gain from Labour Swing

Princes
Princes (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Monjur Showkat 388 38.00 +2.3
Conservative Rebecca Storey* 386 37.8 -0.8
Green Ciara O'Hare 76 7.44 N/a
Green Kerry O'Hare 60 5.87 n/a
Labour Ricky Jones* 490 47.9 +3.8
Labour Alina Vaduva 395 38.6 +0.2
Reform UK Lou Sparrow 49 2.66 N/a
Turnout 1021 24.73 -6.77
Labour hold Swing
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Stone Castle
Stone Castle (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Burrell* 440 47.5 -0.3
Conservative Lucy Canham* 491 53.0 +2.8
Conservative Paul Cutler* 518 56.0 +11.5
Labour Trevor Donnelly 362 39.13 +4.03
Labour Rachel Gogo 315 34.05 +5.65
Labour Pat Kelly 320 34.59 -0.11
Turnout 925 17.10 -7.1
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing

Stone House
Stone House (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tom Oliver* 667 52.4 +9.7
Conservative Milan Suter 535 42.0 +1.8
Green Louise Maclean 125 9.8 N/a
Labour Rachael Anne 556 43.7 -2.4
Labour Karl Harris 491 38.6 +1.7
Turnout 1272 27.3 +1.5
Conservative hold Swing
Labour hold Swing

Swanscombe
Swanscombe (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Britain First Paul Golding
Conservative Anita Barham*
Conservative Santosh Patil
Labour Emma Ben Moussa*
Labour Claire Pearce
Residents Lorna Cross

Temple Hill
Temple Hill (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Thomas Denman
Conservative Ganesh Malyala
Conservative Thomas Shippam
Labour Alina Gaskin*
Labour Kelly Grehan*
Labour Darren Povey
Reform UK Enrique Martin-Garcia
Reform UK Barry Taylor

Town
Town (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Christopher Shippam*
Conservative Richard Wells*
Labour Justina Lambert
Labour Jiri Marek

West Hill
West Hill (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Julie Ozog*
Conservative Denzil Reynolds*
Conservative Drew Swinerd*
Green Garry Turner
Labour Robert Celino-Stock
Labour Suyi Michelli
Labour Sandra Woodeson

Wilmington, Sutton-at-Hone & Hawley
Wilmington, Sutton-at-Hone & Hawley (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative George Holt*
Conservative Eddy Lampkin*
Conservative Av Sandhu
Green Richard Moore
Labour Abigail Jones
Labour Raymond Kelleher
Labour Geoffrey Prout
Reform UK Marc Mason

References
  1. Leading "Alliance Group" of the Green Party and one of the independent councillors.[1]
  1. "Council minutes, 11 May 2022". Dartford Borough Council. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  2. "Notice of Election". Dartford Borough Council. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  3. "Dartford Labour vote in new opposition council leader amid local party shake up". Kent Online. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  4. "Dartford councillor for Newtown Laura Edie quits Labour Party over handling of school closures". Kent Online. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  5. "Swanscombe and Greenhithe Resident's Association councillors quit to form new Independent Party Group on Dartford Council". Kent Online. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  6. "Conservatives retain three Wilmington by-election seats in Dartford council and Kent County Council". Kent Online. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  7. "Council minutes, 11 May 2022". Dartford Borough Council. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  8. "Wilmington, Sutton-at-Hone & Hawley Borough Ward - Thursday 9 February 2023". Dartford Borough Council. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  9. "Statement of Persons Nominated". Dartford Borough Council. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
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