2023 Folkestone and Hythe District Council election

2023 Folkestone and Hythe District Council election
All 30 seats to Folkestone and Hythe District Council; 16 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	34.5%
	A map of the winner of each seat by party in the 2023 Folkestone and Hythe District Council Election
Leader before election; David Monk; Conservative; No overall control	Leader after election ; Jim Martin; Green; No overall control

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

Summary

The Green Party won the most seats, with the Conservatives falling into third place behind Labour. The leader of the council prior to the election, Conservative councillor David Monk, lost his seat.^[2]^[3]

Following the election a coalition of the Greens and Liberal Democrats formed a minority administration, with Green councillor Jim Martin being appointed the new leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 24 May 2023.^[4]^[5]

Election result

2023 Folkestone and Hythe District Council election^[6]
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Green	17	11	5	0	5	36.7	31.0	20,218	+5.8
	Labour	21	10	4	0	4	33.3	20.9	13,631	+2.1
	Conservative	30	5	1	9	8	16.7	27.8	18,137	–8.6
	Liberal Democrats	16	2	0	0		6.7	11.3	7,353	±0.0
	Independent	11	2	1	0	1	6.7	6.4	4,204	+2.4
	Reform UK	3	0	0	0		0.0	1.3	823	N/A
	Foundation	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.9	608	+0.3
	Socialist (GB)	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	126	+0.1
	UKIP	1	0	0	2	2	0.0	0.2	124	–3.4

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Folkestone and Hythe District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.^[7]

Broadmead

Broadmead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Belinda Walker	454	39.5	+17.1
	Conservative	Kieran Leigh	448	39.0	–20.4
	Liberal Democrats	John Stokes	246	21.4	+3.2
Majority			6	0.5	N/A
Turnout			1,163	37.4	+5.1
Registered electors			3,106
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing	18.8

Cheriton

Cheriton (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Rebecca Shoob*	1,219	41.0	+7.0
	Green	Polly Blakemore	1,078	36.3	*N/A*
	Green	Mike Blakemore	1,018	34.3	*N/A*
	Conservative	Dhan Gurung	691	23.3	–11.1
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Gane*	690	23.2	+1.8
	Labour	Paul Bingham	624	21.0	–5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Roger West	610	20.5	+2.6
	Conservative	Rory Love	566	19.1	–12.8
	Conservative	John Collier*	556	18.7	–12.7
	Labour	Jane Darling	531	17.9	–8.4
	Labour	Charles Bain Smith	522	17.6	–5.7
Turnout			2,971	31.6	+4.8
Registered electors			9,405
	Green hold
	Green gain from Conservative
	Green gain from Conservative

East Folkestone

East Folkestone (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jackie Meade*	1,098	53.6	+21.9
	Labour	Connor McConville*	1,030	50.3	+21.9
	Labour	Adrian Lockwood	962	47.0	+14.5
	Green	Marianne Brett	548	26.8	+1.2
	Conservative	Jeanne Brinton	477	23.3	–4.4
	Conservative	Ema Deba	435	21.2	–4.3
	Conservative	Sheila Reed	434	21.2	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Danielle Anson	419	20.5	+1.8
Turnout			2,048	24.8	+1.7
Registered electors			8,262
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Folkestone Central

Folkestone Central (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Laura Davison*	1,211	48.4	+15.9
	Labour	Abena Akuffo-Kelly	1,058	42.3	+13.6
	Labour	Liz McShane	981	39.2	+11.2
	Conservative	Claire Beresford	659	26.3	–5.5
	Conservative	Stephen James	647	25.9	–3.6
	Conservative	Dylan Jeffrey	616	24.6	–3.2
	Green	Clive Hawkins	545	21.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Horrox	301	12.0	–9.1
	Liberal Democrats	Alison Pemberton	285	11.4	–9.3
	Independent	Bryan Rylands	260	10.4	–5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Aston Mannerings	239	9.6	–8.9
	Socialist (GB)	Max Hess	81	3.2	N/A
Turnout			2,501	30.5	+2.6
Registered electors			8,212
	Labour hold
	Labour gain from Conservative
	Labour gain from Conservative

Folkestone Harbour

Folkestone Harbour (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bridget Chapman	695	47.2	+19.2
	Labour	Nicola Keen*	681	46.3	+17.8
	Foundation	Mary Lawes	372	25.3	–1.9
	Foundation	Frank McKenna	236	16.0	N/A
	Conservative	Glyn Hibbert	230	15.6	–4.7
	Conservative	Richard Moffatt	210	14.3	–4.1
	Liberal Democrats	Tom McNeice	198	13.5	–4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Adam Rowledge	121	8.2	N/A
	Socialist (GB)	Andy Thomas	45	3.1	–1.1
Turnout			1,471	30.0	+2.0
Registered electors			4,897
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Hythe

Hythe (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Anita Jones	2,971	67.9	+7.1
	Green	Jim Martin*	2,930	66.9	+5.9
	Green	Rich Holgate	2,826	64.6	+9.3
	Conservative	Malcolm Dearden	989	22.6	–4.9
	Conservative	David Owen	946	21.6	–4.8
	Conservative	Ben Potter	888	20.3	–5.8
	Reform UK	David Turner	440	10.1	N/A
Turnout			4,377	47.8	+1.3
Registered electors			9,165
	Green hold
	Green hold
	Green hold

Hythe Rural

Hythe Rural (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	John Wing*	1,103	59.7	+14.3
	Green	Jeremy Speakman	1,055	57.1	+5.6
	Conservative	John Gabris	482	26.1	–2.6
	Conservative	Michael Lyons	471	25.5	–1.3
	Labour	Edward Le Fanu	229	12.4	+3.2
Turnout			1,847	36.7	–1.4
Registered electors			5,030
	Green hold
	Green hold

New Romney

New Romney (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Paul Thomas	680	35.1	*N/A*
	Independent	David Wimble*	653	33.7	–14.3
	Conservative	Patricia Rolfe*	501	25.9	–3.1
	Conservative	Laurie Glover	400	20.7	–6.4
	Green	Malcolm Watkinson	317	16.4	–3.6
	Labour	Paul Carey	315	16.3	–5.4
	Independent	John Davies	246	12.7	N/A
	Reform UK	Wendy Nevard	181	9.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Robertson-Ritchie	111	5.7	–6.3
	Independent	John Houston	72	3.7	N/A
Turnout			1,935	32.7	–3.9
Registered electors			5,910
	Independent gain from Conservative
	Independent hold

North Downs East

North Downs East (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Stephen Scoffham	1,127	38.8	+8.4
	Green	James Butcher	988	34.0	+8.9
	Conservative	David Godfrey*	920	31.6	–17.0
	Green	Doug Wade	903	31.1	N/A
	Conservative	Stuart Peall*	896	30.8	–15.4
	Conservative	David Monk*	849	29.2	–15.8
	Liberal Democrats	Lynne Beaumont	542	20.8	–2.2
	Labour	Nicola Hayden	524	18.0	+5.3
	Labour	Lucy McGirr	482	16.6	+4.1
	Independent	Philip Martin*	419	14.4	N/A
Turnout			2,907	32.2	+2.9
Registered electors			9,035
	Green gain from Conservative
	Green gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

North Downs West

North Downs West (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Elaine Martin	932	42.7	+9.4
	Conservative	Jennifer Hollingsbee*	882	40.4	+3.1
	Conservative	Laszlo Dudas	704	32.2	–9.4
	Labour	Senet Yohannes	521	23.9	+12.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chani Sanger	510	23.4	+2.5
	Reform UK	Gavin Braine	202	9.3	N/A
Turnout			2,183	40.6	–3.8
Registered electors			5,380
	Green gain from Conservative
	Conservative hold

Romney Marsh

Romney Marsh (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liz Grant	647	31.6	+5.7
	Labour Co-op	Tony Cooper	534	26.1	+14.4
	Conservative	Tony Hills*	532	26.0	+3.3
	Independent	Andy Weatherhead	491	24.0	N/A
	Labour	Tony Goode	481	23.5	+10.8
	Independent	Ian Meyers*	451	22.1	N/A
	Green	Jenni Hawkins	357	17.5	–6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Matthews	161	7.9	–3.3
	Independent	Douglas Young	60	2.9	N/A
Turnout			2,045	34.4	–5.4
Registered electors			5,938
	Conservative gain from UKIP
	Labour Co-op gain from UKIP

Sandgate and West Folkestone

Sandgate and West Folkestone (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Prater*	1,408	74.6	+18.3
	Liberal Democrats	Gary Fuller*	1,190	63.1	+13.7
	Labour	Sarah Danby	316	16.7	+2.4
	Conservative	Paul Jones	314	16.6	−11.9
	Conservative	Dylan Moody	261	13.8	−13.8
Turnout			1887	42.6	+3.6
Registered electors			4,434
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Walland and Denge Marsh

Walland and Denge Marsh (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Clive Goddard*	868	44.1	−1.1
	Conservative	Alan Martin	618	31.4	−12.7
	Independent	Peter Webb	406	20.6	N/A
	Labour	Chrissie Cooper	382	19.4	+6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Suzanne Piper	322	16.4	−0.1
	Green	Ross Carter	301	15.3	−5.4
	Independent	Kim Rye	269	13.7	N/A
	Independent	Jack Glass	197	10.0	N/A
	UKIP	Leonard Laws	124	6.3	−17.6
Turnout			1,968	32.1	+1.1
Registered electors			6,133
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold