2023 Central Bedfordshire Council election

2023 Central Bedfordshire Council election

← 2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →

All 63 seats to Central Bedfordshire Council
32 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Adam Zerny Richard Wenham Shaun Roberts
Party Independent Conservative Liberal Democrats
Last election 13 seats, 18.3% 41 seats, 43.3% 3 seats, 9.7%
Seats won 27 20 10
Seat change Increase 14 Decrease 21 Increase 7
Popular vote 27,595 22,176 12,645
Percentage 32.7% 26.3% 15.0%
Swing Increase 14.4% Decrease 17.0% Increase 5.3%

  Fourth party Fifth party
  Blank Blank
Leader Matthew Brennan Susan Clinch
Party Labour Green
Last election 1 seat, 19.8% 0 seats, 0%
Seats won 5 1
Seat change Increase 4 Increase 1
Popular vote 15,729 5,068
Percentage 18.6% 6.0%
Swing Decrease 1.2% Increase 2.8%

Winner of each seat at the 2023 Central Bedfordshire Council election

Leader before election

Richard Wenham
Conservative

Leader after election

Adam Zerny
Independent
No overall control

The 2023 Central Bedfordshire Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Central Bedfordshire Council in Bedfordshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections. New ward boundaries increased the number of seats on the council by four.[1]

Ahead of the election, the Conservative administration had frozen council tax at a time when most councils were raising it to cover the increased cost of delivering public services. The extent to which this was the right course of action was debated by the candidates.[2]

The Conservatives lost control of the council, only winning 20 of the 63 seats. They had previously held a majority of the seats on the council since its creation in 2009. Independent candidates won 27 of the seats, with the resulting council being under no overall control.[3][4] An independent-led administration subsequently formed, with Adam Zerny being appointed leader of the council at the annual meeting on 25 May 2023.[5]

  1. ^ "The Central Bedfordshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2021", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2021/1051, retrieved 29 April 2023
  2. ^ Holmes, Amy (21 April 2023). "Could tax freeze impact Central Bedfordshire election?". BBC News. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Local elections 2023: Conservatives lose control of Central Beds". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  4. ^ Duncan, Euan (16 May 2023). "Central Bedfordshire: Ousted council leader points blame at Westminster for Tory collapse". Bedfordshire Live. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Council meeting, 25 May 2023". Central Bedfordshire Council. Retrieved 26 May 2023.