2023 Rochford District Council election

← 2022 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2024 →
13 out of 39 seats to Rochford District Council 20 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Simon Wootton[1] James Newport Party Conservative Independent Liberal Democrats Last election 21 seats, 38.4% 2 seats, 5.1% 5 seats, 17.7% Seats before 18 10 5 Seats won 5 1 4 Seats after 14 9 8 Seat change 3 1 3 Popular vote 6,393 1,621 5,002 Percentage 31.9% 8.1% 25.0% Swing 6.5% 4.7% 7.3%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Christine Mason Party Rochford Resident Green Last election 10 seats, 21.0% 1 seat, 4.8% Seats before 5 1 Seats won 3 0 Seats after 7 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 2,767 889 Percentage 13.8% 4.4% Swing 7.2% 0.4%
Leader before election Simon Wootton Conservative No overall control Leader after election John Mason Rochford District Residents No overall control

The 2023 Rochford District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Rochford District Council in Essex, England. This would be on the same day as other local elections in England.

Less than three months before the election, three Conservative councillors left the party, putting the council under no overall control with the Conservatives becoming a minority administration. Prior to that, the Conservatives had held a majority of the seats on the council since 2002.^[2]

The election saw the council remain under no overall control. A coalition of the Rochford District Residents, Liberal Democrats, Greens and independent councillors subsequently formed an administration, with John Mason of the Rochford District Residents being appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 23 May 2023.^[3]

2023 Rochford District Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	5	3	38.5	9	14	35.9	6,393	31.9	–6.5
	Independent	1	1	7.7	8	9	23.1	1,621	8.1	+4.7
	Liberal Democrats	4	3	30.8	4	8	20.5	5,002	25.0	+7.3
	Rochford Resident	3	1	23.1	4	7	17.9	2,767	13.8	–7.2
	Green	0		0.0	1	1	2.6	889	4.4	–0.4
	Labour	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	2,891	14.4	–0.2
	Britain First	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	214	1.1	N/A
	Reform UK	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	187	0.9	N/A
	ADF	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	47	0.2	N/A

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Rochford District Council following the close of nomination on 5 April 2023.^[4][5] The results for each ward were as follows:^[6]

Downhall & Rawreth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	James Newport*	1,050	68.0	+1.1
	Conservative	Stuart Belton	296	19.2	–5.0
	Labour	James Hedges	126	8.2	–0.7
	Reform UK	Grant Randall	71	4.6	N/A
Majority			754	48.8	+6.1
Turnout			1,543	27.9	+0.2
Registered electors			5,530
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	3.0

Foulness & The Wakerings

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Daniel Efde*	731	55.4	–17.9
	Labour	Philip Hannan	421	31.9	+5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Deborah Taylor	168	12.7	N/A
Majority			310	23.5	–23.1
Turnout			1,320	23.2	–3.6
Registered electors			5,690
	Conservative hold		Swing	11.6

Hawkwell East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Rochford Resident	Elliot Mason	513	36.1	–5.5
	Conservative	Mike Webb*	436	30.7	–7.8
	Green	Rachel White	213	15.0	N/A
	Labour	Victoria Williams	213	15.0	–4.8
	ADF	Mark Vallance	47	3.3	N/A
Majority			77	5.4	+2.3
Turnout			1,422	30.3	+0.3
Registered electors			4,693
	Rochford Resident gain from Conservative		Swing	1.2

Hawkwell West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Rochford Resident	Nick Booth	870	54.3	+15.3
	Conservative	Toni Carter*	432	27.0	–22.6
	Labour	Keith Montgomery	166	10.4	–0.9
	Green	Andrew White	134	8.4	N/A
Majority			438	27.3	N/A
Turnout			1,602	32.2	–1.5
Registered electors			4,975
	Rochford Resident hold		Swing	19.0

Hockley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Rochford Resident	Adrian Eves*	929	60.0	+5.8
	Conservative	James Hall	386	24.9	–7.8
	Labour	Ian Rooke	233	15.1	+1.9
Majority			543	35.1	+13.6
Turnout			1,548	30.6	–1.0
Registered electors			5,059
	Rochford Resident hold		Swing	6.8

Hockley & Ashingdon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mike Carter*	472	28.9	–8.7
	Rochford Resident	Phil Capon	455	27.9	+10.8
	Britain First	Paul Harding	214	13.1	N/A
	Labour	Hollie Ridley	190	11.6	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Gardner	173	10.7	–8.3
	Green	Leanne Dalby	126	7.8	N/A
Majority			17	1.0	–17.8
Turnout			1,630	31.7	–0.6
Registered electors			5,142
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.8

Roche North & Rural

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Wootton*	409	31.3	–13.2
	Labour	Myra Weir	358	27.4	+5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Irlam	281	21.5	–11.6
	Green	John-Barry Waldron	256	19.7	N/A
Majority			51	3.9	–7.6
Turnout			1,304	25.4	–2.3
Registered electors			5,134
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.2

Roche South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Williams*	490	40.9	–2.8
	Labour	Shona Hyde-Williams	348	29.0	+4.7
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Brown	200	16.7	N/A
	Green	Samantha Spiteri	160	13.4	N/A
Majority			142	11.9	+0.2
Turnout			1,198	25.1	–1.2
Registered electors			4,773
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.8

Trinity

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Page	1,149	58.1	–2.5
	Conservative	Cheryl Roe*	698	35.3	+3.7
	Labour	Billy Ridley	130	6.6	–1.1
Majority			451	22.8	–6.8
Turnout			1,977	36.3	–0.8
Registered electors			5,446
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	3.4

Wheatley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Linden	942	54.1	+14.7
	Conservative	Ian Beatwell	500	28.7	+0.2
	Labour	Lorraine Ridley	183	10.5	+2.0
	Reform UK	Adrian Short	116	6.7	N/A
Majority			442	25.4	+14.5
Turnout			1,741	34.6	–2.1
Registered electors			5,032
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing	7.3