# 2023 Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council election

The 2023 Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council in Berkshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections. The election saw the Liberal Democrats win a majority of the seats on the council, which had previously been under Conservative control.

## Overview

Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council had been under Conservative majority control since 2007. The Conservative leader of the council was Andrew Johnson, who had been leader since 2019. Prior to the election, there were six registered political parties represented on the council (two of which were Residents' Associations) and one independent councillor. The Old Windsor Residents' Association, The Borough First Independents, and the one independent councillor had all formed a political group called the "Local Independents", led by Lynne Jones. There was one vacancy on the council immediately before the election, where a Liberal Democrat councillor for Belmont ward had resigned in March 2023.
The election saw the Liberal Democrats win 22 of the 41 seats on the council, up from 10 before the election, giving them an overall majority. The Conservatives saw their number of seats fall from 22 to 7. One of the Conservatives to lose their seat was the leader of the council, Andrew Johnson.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Simon Werner, was formally appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 23 May 2023. The Conservatives appointed Maureen Hunt to be their new leader in opposition.
Before the election, the composition of the council was:
| 22 | 9 | 9 |
| CON | LD | IND |
After the election, the composition of the council became:
| 22 | 12 | 7 |
| LD | OTH | CON |

## Summary
### Election result

2023 Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council election :
| Party | Candidates | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Liberal Democrats | 32 | 22 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 53.7 | 44.6 | 39,208 | +19.3 |
| Conservative | 41 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 17.1 | 29.4 | 25,857 | -13.4 |
| Borough First | 10 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 17.1 | 10.0 | 8,832 | -2.1 |
| Residents | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9.8 | 4.7 | 4,180 | -2.2 |
| Flood Prevention | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 2.4 | 1.2 | 1,099 | |
| Labour | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0.0 | 6.0 | 5,295 | -3.1 |
| Green | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0.0 | 1.9 | 1,642 | +0.9 |
| Independent | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1,767 | -1.3 |
| Reform UK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0.0 | 0.1 | 123 | New |

## Candidates

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.

### Ascot and Sunninghill

Ascot & Sunninghill (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Julian Sharpe* | 1,257 | 48.6 | −4.0 |
| | Conservative | John Story* | 1,254 | 48.5 | −3.5 |
| | Conservative | Asghar Majeed | 993 | 38.4 | −17.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Lilly Evans | 979 | 37.9 | +15.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jonathan Pope | 940 | 36.4 | +19.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sanjay Karia | 877 | 33.9 | +15.3 |
| | Labour | John Gripton | 472 | 18.3 | +4.0 |
| | Green | Rosemary Magill | 423 | 16.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,599 | 30.35 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Belmont

Belmont (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Simon Bond* | 1,641 | 71.0 | +27.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sian Martin | 1,585 | 68.6 | +30.7 |
| | Conservative | Mohammed Ilyas | 502 | 21.7 | −6.7 |
| | Conservative | William Scawn | 494 | 21.4 | −5.2 |
| | Labour | Patricia Lattimer | 245 | 10.6 | −1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,325 | 42.90 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |

### Bisham and Cookham

Bisham & Cookham (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mandy Brar* | 2,101 | 81.1 | +25.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mark Howard | 1,887 | 72.8 | +32.3 |
| | Conservative | Gerry Clark* | 526 | 20.3 | −20.6 |
| | Conservative | Tom Weiss | 375 | 14.5 | −23.1 |
| | Labour | Georgina Grouse | 94 | 3.6 | −0.9 |
| | Labour | Mel Stack | 65 | 2.5 | +0.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,598 | 49.77 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |

### Boyn Hill

Boyn Hill (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Adam Bermange | 1,466 | 64.7 | +42.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | George Shaw | 1,383 | 61.0 | +39.0 |
| | Conservative | Gurpreet Bhangra* | 636 | 28.1 | −17.5 |
| | Conservative | Anuj Khanna | 580 | 25.6 | −24.4 |
| | Labour | Marios Alexandrou | 195 | 8.6 | −1.7 |
| | Labour | Pat McDonald | 165 | 7.3 | +0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,275 | 44.26 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |

### Bray

Bray (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Borough First | Suzanne Cross | 907 | 45.9 | +15.6 |
| | Conservative | Leo Walters* | 746 | 37.7 | −14.7 |
| | Borough First | Glynis Crane | 726 | 36.7 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Derek Wilson | 691 | 35.0 | −19.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Bruce Adams | 317 | 16.0 | −3.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Timothy Martin | 262 | 13.3 | +1.4 |
| | Labour | Robert White | 175 | 8.9 | +0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,981 | 35.47 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Borough First gain from Conservative | Borough First gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Clewer and Dedworth East

Clewer & Dedworth East (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Borough First | Helen Price* | 1,160 | 69.3 | +26.9 |
| | Borough First | Alison Carpenter | 945 | 56.4 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Phillip Bicknell | 371 | 22.1 | −13.8 |
| | Conservative | Hashim Bhatti | 286 | 17.1 | −18.5 |
| | Labour | David Sanders | 247 | 14.7 | +3.0 |
| | Independent | Richard Margison | 169 | 10.1 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,676 | 31.26 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Borough First hold | Borough First hold | Swing | | |
| | Borough First gain from Residents | Borough First gain from Residents | Swing | | |

### Clewer and Dedworth West

Clewer & Dedworth West (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | WWRA | Wisdom da Costa* | 778 | 39.8 | −11.4 |
| | WWRA | Carole da Costa* | 759 | 38.8 | −6.4 |
| | Independent | Edward Wilson | 649 | 33.2 | −9.3 |
| | Independent | Malcolm Alexander | 424 | 21.7 | −17.3 |
| | Independent | Jon Davey* | 418 | 21.4 | −23.8 |
| | Conservative | Ian Haggart | 299 | 15.3 | −27.2 |
| | Conservative | Lars Swann | 244 | 12.5 | −26.5 |
| | Labour | Deborah Foster | 212 | 10.8 | +2.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,960 | 35.95 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | WWRA hold | WWRA hold | Swing | | |
| | WWRA hold | WWRA hold | Swing | | |

### Clewer East

Clewer East (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Karen Davies* | 1,469 | 77.0 | +34.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Amy Tisi* | 1,468 | 76.9 | +33.6 |
| | Conservative | Nicola Pryer | 402 | 21.1 | −19.0 |
| | Conservative | Kaumil Shah | 336 | 17.6 | −21.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,914 | 37.84 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |

### Cox Green

Cox Green (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Chris Moriarty | 1,677 | 69.4 | +43.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gary Reeves | 1,597 | 66.1 | +43.3 |
| | Conservative | Phil Haseler* | 678 | 28.1 | −24.0 |
| | Conservative | Sunil Sharma | 452 | 18.7 | −33.3 |
| | Labour | Robert Horner | 129 | 5.3 | −2.1 |
| | Labour | John Lupton | 85 | 3.5 | −2.6 |
| | Green | Simon Beer | 84 | 3.5 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,421 | 44.11 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |

### Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury

Datchet, Horton & Wraysbury (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Flood Prevention | Ewan Larcombe* | 1,099 | 45.4 | +4.0 |
| | Borough First | David Buckley | 1,071 | 44.2 | +13.0 |
| | Borough First | Jodie Grove | 953 | 39.3 | +13.0 |
| | Conservative | Margaret Lenton | 748 | 30.9 | −15.5 |
| | Conservative | Patrick Barr | 638 | 26.3 | −11.2 |
| | Conservative | Amit Verma | 589 | 24.3 | −6.6 |
| | Labour | Peter Ward | 394 | 16.3 | +7.7 |
| | Labour | Jenny Ward | 289 | 11.9 | +0.6 |
| | Green | Zsofia Macho | 278 | 11.5 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Dan Boresjo | 241 | 10.0 | −2.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Joshua Trood | 195 | 8.1 | −2.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,435 | 30.92 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Flood Prevention hold | Flood Prevention hold | Swing | | |
| | Borough First gain from Conservative | Borough First gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
| | Borough First gain from Conservative | Borough First gain from Conservative | Swing | | |

### Eton and Castle

Eton and Castle (3 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Julian Tisi | 1,701 | 54.6 | +32.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Devon Davies | 1,686 | 54.2 | +28.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mark Wilson | 1,667 | 53.5 | +25.3 |
| | Conservative | Samantha Rayner* | 902 | 29.0 | −21.2 |
| | Conservative | Penelope Banham | 869 | 27.9 | −17.6 |
| | Conservative | Shamsul Shelim* | 670 | 21.5 | −15.2 |
| | Green | Michael Boyle | 416 | 13.3 | N/A |
| | Green | Liam Harrison | 310 | 9.9 | N/A |
| | Labour | Rick Ludovici | 285 | 9.1 | −3.7 |
| | Labour | Murtaza Khan | 229 | 7.3 | −6.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,124 | 36.94 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |

### Furze Platt

Furze Platt (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Catherine Del Campo* | 1,582 | 67.1 | +19.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Joshua Reynolds* | 1,457 | 61.8 | +20.9 |
| | Conservative | Hari Sharma | 577 | 24.5 | +1.6 |
| | Conservative | Josh Wallace | 534 | 22.7 | +0.9 |
| | Labour | George Blair | 170 | 7.2 | +0.9 |
| | Labour | Clive Lattimer | 141 | 6.0 | +1.9 |
| | Independent | Tom Easten | 107 | 4.5 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,362 | 41.90 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |

### Hurley and Walthams

Hurley & Walthams (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | George Blundell | 782 | 48.2 | +28.1 |
| | Conservative | Maureen Hunt* | 765 | 47.2 | −16.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Rob Castell | 664 | 41.0 | +22.6 |
| | Conservative | Andrew Johnson* | 643 | 39.7 | −11.2 |
| | Green | Craig McDermott | 131 | 8.1 | N/A |
| | Labour | Sally Lupton | 94 | 5.8 | −4.9 |
| | Labour | Tim Langley | 72 | 4.4 | −2.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,628 | 34.06 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

### Oldfield

Oldfield (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Borough First | Helen Taylor* | 1,015 | 53.0 | +12.8 |
| | Borough First | Geoffrey Hill* | 992 | 51.8 | +7.6 |
| | Conservative | Seema Goyal | 731 | 38.2 | +3.8 |
| | Conservative | Jade Jones | 543 | 28.4 | −2.0 |
| | Labour | Louise Fairlie | 307 | 16.0 | +4.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,924 | 36.21 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Borough First hold | Borough First hold | Swing | | |
| | Borough First hold | Borough First hold | Swing | | |

### Old Windsor

Old Windsor (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | OWRA | Lynne Jones* | 1,419 | 79.1 | +5.3 |
| | OWRA | Neil Knowles* | 1,224 | 68.2 | +4.0 |
| | Conservative | Peter Auger | 274 | 15.3 | −9.5 |
| | Labour | Roy Reeves | 254 | 14.2 | +6.7 |
| | Conservative | Colin Blackwell | 250 | 13.9 | −2.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,795 | 32.08 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | OWRA hold | OWRA hold | Swing | | |
| | OWRA hold | OWRA hold | Swing | | |

### Pinkneys Green

Pinkneys Green (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Clive Baskerville* | 1,832 | 76.5 | +26.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Simon Werner* | 1,819 | 76.0 | +18.9 |
| | Conservative | Martyn Cook | 355 | 14.8 | −15.5 |
| | Conservative | Bern Guly | 310 | 12.9 | −13.4 |
| | Labour | Jane Collisson | 176 | 7.4 | +2.4 |
| | Labour | Joseph Freeman | 162 | 6.8 | +3.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,405 | 43.62 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |

### Riverside

Riverside (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kashmir Singh | 1,622 | 63.0 | +43.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Richard Coe | 1,527 | 59.3 | +38.5 |
| | Conservative | Sohaib Khan | 776 | 30.1 | −7.1 |
| | Conservative | Toni Tucker | 622 | 24.1 | −9.9 |
| | Labour | Nigel Smith | 178 | 6.9 | −1.1 |
| | Reform UK | Jake Collingwood | 123 | 4.8 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,582 | 45.81 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |

### St Mary's

St Mary's (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jack Douglas | 1,199 | 65.9 | +40.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gurch Singh* | 1,123 | 61.7 | +21.8 |
| | Conservative | Donna Stimson* | 476 | 26.2 | −15.1 |
| | Conservative | Hillary Su | 387 | 21.3 | −18.6 |
| | Labour | Keith Nicholas | 290 | 15.9 | +2.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,831 | 35.10 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
| | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | | |
Gurch Singh had been elected as a Conservative in 2019 but had defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2020.

### Sunningdale and Cheapside

Sunningdale & Cheapside (2 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Sayonara Luxton* | 736 | 44.9 | −7.8 |
| | Conservative | Genevieve Gosling | 698 | 42.5 | −15.7 |
| | Borough First | Valerie Pike | 574 | 35.0 | −0.2 |
| | Borough First | Matt Newman | 489 | 29.8 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Carolyn Fallon | 244 | 14.9 | −2.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Mariano Julia | 218 | 13.3 | −1.6 |
| | Labour | Nigel Hayward | 170 | 10.4 | +5.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,641 | 35.09 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |

## By-elections
### Ascot & Sunninghill, 17 October 2024

Ascot & Sunninghill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Sally Coneron | 1,264 | 58.5 | +18.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | George Jezard | 703 | 32.5 | +1.3 |
| | Borough First | Matt Newman | 118 | 5.5 | New |
| | Labour | Nigel Hayward | 74 | 3.4 | –11.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 561 | 26.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2159 | 24.8 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +8.6 | |