2023 Hart District Council election

2023 Hart District Council election

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
11 out of 33 seats to Hart District Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader David Neighbour Anne Crampton Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Last election 11 seats, 31.2% 11 seats, 40.7% Seats before 11 11 Seats after 11 11   Third party Fourth party   Leader James Radley Party CCH Independent Last election 10 seats, 20.4% N/A Seats before 10 1 Seats after 10 1
Map of the results
Leader before election David Neighbour Liberal Democrat No overall control Leader after election David Neighbour Liberal Democrat No overall control

The 2023 Hart District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Hart District Council in Hampshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

Summary

The council was under no overall control prior to the election, being run by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats and local party Community Campaign (Hart) (CCH), with Liberal Democrat David Neighbour serving as leader of the council. No seats changed party at this election and the same coalition continued to run the council after the election.

Election result

2023 Hart District Council
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	4		36.4	7	11	33.3	6,301	24.0	7.2
	Conservative	2		18.2	9	11	33.3	9,965	37.9	2.8
	CCH	4		36.4	6	10	30.3	4,595	17.5	2.9
	Independent	1		9.1	0	1	3.0	1,841	7.0	New
	Labour	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	2,484	9.4	4.3
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	914	3.5	1.5
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	94	0.4	New
	Heritage	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	78	0.3	0.1

Candidates

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Hart District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023. The results for each ward were as follows:

Blackwater & Hawley

Blackwater & Hawley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Harward*	1,188	63.4	−7.9
	Conservative	John Burton	487	26.0	−2.7
	Labour	Carly Bidwell	200	10.7	N/A
Majority
Turnout				30.40
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Crookham East

Crookham East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	CCH	Chris Axam*	1,261	55.4	−10.8
	Conservative	Annette Whibley	796	35.0	+1.2
	Labour	Chas Spradbery	219	9.6	N/A
Majority
Turnout				38.87
	CCH hold		Swing

Crookham West & Ewshot

Crookham West & Ewshot

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	CCH	Tony Clarke*	1,147	44.8	−17.0
	Conservative	Bruce Bulgin	906	35.4	−2.8
	Green	Joseph Hutton	280	10.9	N/A
	Labour	Lila Seling Mabo	227	8.9	N/A
Majority
Turnout				32.44
	CCH hold		Swing

Fleet Central

Fleet Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	CCH	Katie Davies*	1,116	44.3	−0.7
	Conservative	Roy Fang	950	37.7	−1.3
	Labour	Andrew Perkins	377	14.9	+2.7
	Monster Raving Loony	Howling Laud Hope	79	3.1	−0.8
Majority
Turnout				38.22
	CCH hold		Swing

Fleet East

Fleet East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Wildsmith*	1,402	53.7	+6.6
	Conservative	Mike Thorne	863	33.0	−5.5
	Green	Samantha Davis	195	7.5	−0.7
	Labour	Valmai Wainhouse	152	5.8	−0.4
Majority
Turnout				42.98
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Fleet West

Fleet West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	CCH	Ben Thomas	1,071	42.7	−4.0
	Conservative	Mohua Chakraborty	979	39.1	−1.3
	Labour	Mike Mellor	259	10.3	N/A
	Green	Wayne Rozier	197	7.9	−4.9
Majority
Turnout				36.77
	CCH hold		Swing

Hartley Wintney

Hartley Wintney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Spencer Farmer*	1,364	54.6	−10.8
	Independent	Roger Robertson	569	22.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Daisy Khepar	566	22.6	+0.4
Majority
Turnout				34.36
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hook

Hook

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Dermot Smith*	1,272	46.1	N/A
	Conservative	Jen Copeland	1,045	37.9	−9.2
	Labour	Amanda Affleck-Cruise	443	16.1	+3.7
Majority
Turnout				37.22
	Independent hold		Swing

Odiham

Odiham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chris Dorn*	1,412	61.8	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Over	446	19.5	−21.2
	Green	Lars Mosesson	242	10.6	N/A
	Labour	Ben Jones	185	8.1	N/A
Majority
Turnout				34.98
	Conservative hold		Swing

Yateley East

Yateley East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Neighbour*	1,325	60.5	−12.8
	Conservative	Chris Barnes	585	26.7	±0.0
	Labour	Mark Schroeder	185	8.5	N/A
	Reform UK	Trevor Lloyd-Jones	94	4.3	N/A
Majority
Turnout				32.80
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Yateley West

Yateley West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Vernon	1,374	60.6	−1.2
	Conservative	Richard Martin	578	25.5	−0.7
	Labour	Joyce Still	237	10.5	+0.6
	Heritage	Frances Crompton	78	3.4	+1.2
Majority
Turnout				34.21
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing