2023 Chelmsford City Council election

← 2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 57 seats toChelmsford City Council 29 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Stephen Robinson Roy Whitehead Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Last election 31 seats, 39.8% 21 seats, 40.5% Seats before 30[a] 22[b] Seats after 33 21 Seat change 2 Popular vote 39,567 37,771 Percentage 41.7% 39.8% Swing 1.9% 0.7%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Richard Hyland Ian Roberts Party Independent SWFCTA Last election 3 seats, 4.3% 2 seats, 2.4% Seats before 3 2 Seats after 3 0 Seat change 2 Popular vote 4,111 2,003 Percentage 4.3% 2.1% Swing 0.0% 0.3%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Chelmsford City Council election
Leader before election Stephen Robinson Liberal Democrats Leader after election Stephen Robinson Liberal Democrats

The2023 Chelmsford City Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members ofChelmsford City Council inEssex, England.^[3] This was on the same day as otherlocal elections across England.

TheLiberal Democrats retained their majority on the council.

The Liberal Democrats went into the election holding a majority of the council's seats, having taken control from theConservatives at the previouselection in 2019. At the 2023 election the Liberal Democrats increased their majority, making a net gain of two extra seats at the expense of local party the South Woodham Ferrers Council Taxpayers Association, which lost both of the seats it had held on the council.^[4][5]

A new record was set for the youngest person ever to serve on the council with the election of 22-year-old Liberal Democrat candidate Kieron Franks in the Great Baddow East ward.^[6]

The overall results were:^[7][8][9]

2023 Chelmsford City Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	57	33	3	1	2	57.9	41.7	39,567	+1.9
	Conservative	51	21	1	1		36.8	39.8	37,771	–0.7
	Independent	9	3	0	0		5.3	4.3	4,111	0.0
	Labour	37	0	0	0		0.0	9.2	8,737	+2.5
	Green	10	0	0	0		0.0	2.6	2,445	–2.5
	South Woodham Ferrers Council Taxpayers Association	4	0	0	2	2	0.0	2.1	2,003	–0.3
	UKIP	1	0	0	0		0.0
	Heritage	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	193	N/A
	TUSC	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	85	N/A

Independent Network candidates are included with the independents in the summary above, but candidates who stood under that banner are recorded as such in the detailed ward results below.

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Chelmsford City Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.^[10] The ward results were as follows, with sitting councillors standing in their previous wards marked with asterisks(*) and sitting councillors standing in different wards marked with double daggers(‡):^[11][12]

Both Moulsham Lodge seats had been won by Liberal Democrats in 2019, but Robert Gisby had won one of the seats for the Conservatives in a by-election in May 2021. He stood for re-election but was defeated. Seat recorded as a Liberal Democrat hold to allow for comparison with 2019 election.

‡Dan Clark was a sitting councillor for Chelmer Village and Beaulieu Park ward before the election.

‡Eleanor Sampson was a sitting councillor for Waterhouse Farm ward before the election.

‡Nora Walsh was a sitting councillor for Great Baddow East ward before the election.

‡Barry Knight was a sitting councillor for Broomfield and the Walthams ward before the election.

• Barry Knight (Writtle) and Mark Taylor (Bicknacre & East and West Hanningfield), both elected as Conservatives, left the party in November 2023 to sit as independents.^[13]

• Chelmsford City Council elections
• 2023 English local elections
• 2020s in Essex

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata