2023 Arun District Council election

2023 Arun District Council election

← 2019 4 May 2023 2027 →
All 54 council seats on Arun District Council 28 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	30.4%
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Labour Last election 21 seats, 42.3% 22 seats, 31.0% 1 seats, 11.6% Seats won 20 14 8 Seat change 1 8 7 Popular vote 34,319 17,845 12,604 Percentage 40.7% 21.1% 14.9% Swing 1.6% 9.9% 3.3%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Green Independent Last election 2 seats, 3.0% 8 seats, 9.3% Seats won 6 6 Seat change 4 2 Popular vote 12,270 7,035 Percentage 14.5% 8.3% Swing 11.5% 1.0%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Arun District Council election
Leader before election No overall control Leader after election No overall control

The 2023 Arun District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Arun District Council in West Sussex, England.^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections in England.

The council was under no overall control prior to the election, being led by a Conservative minority administration. Following the election the council remained under no overall control, but a Liberal Democrat, Labour, Green and Independent alliance formed to take over the leadership of the council.^[2] The Liberal Democrats appointed Matt Stanley as their new group leader after the election, and as the Liberal Democrats are the largest group in the alliance, he was appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 31 May 2023.^[3][4]

Pre-election composition

The result at the last election and the current composition of the council is given below:

Affiliation		Members
		Elected	Current	Change
	Conservative	21	23	2
	Liberal Democrats	22	17	5
	Independent	8	10	2
	Green	2	3	1
	Labour	1	1
Total		54	54

Overall results

The results were:^[5]

2023 Arun District Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	49	20	7	8	1	37.0	40.6	34,319	–1.7
	Liberal Democrats	30	14	1	9	8	25.9	21.1	17,845	–9.9
	Labour	29	8	7	0	7	14.8	14.9	12,604	+3.3
	Green	18	6	4	0	4	11.1	14.5	12,270	+11.5
	Independent	14	6	0	2	2	11.1	8.3	7,035	–1.0
	Heritage	3	0	0	0		0.0	0.4	313	N/A
	TUSC	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	56	N/A

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Arun District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.^[6] The results for each ward were as follows, with an asterisk (*) indicating an incumbent councillor standing for re-election.^[7]

Aldwick East

Aldwick East (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ash Patel	768	42.5	+4.4
	Conservative	Trevor William Bence	729	40.4	−0.1
	Independent	Fiona Huntley	643	35.6	N/A
	Independent	Ian Manion	539	29.8	N/A
	Green	Justin Adam Bell	332	18.4	N/A
	Labour	Ray Palmer	327	18.1	N/A
Majority			86	4.8
Registered electors			4,534
Turnout			1,806	39.92
Rejected ballots			4	0.2
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Aldwick West

Aldwick West (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Guy Purser	657	38.2	+8.4
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Needs *	636	37.0	+4.9
	Conservative	Diana Thas	601	34.9	+6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Ralph	582	33.8	−5.2
	Labour	Lynne Armstrong	274	15.9	+9.4
	Green	Tony Douglas Coates	255	14.8	±0.0
	Heritage	David Kurten	148	8.6	N/A
Majority			35	2.0
Registered electors			5,127
Turnout			1,721	33.63
Rejected ballots			3	0.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Angmering and Findon

Angmering and Findon (3 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Bicknell *	1,349	50.3	−6.1
	Conservative	Andy Cooper *	1,147	42.7	−4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Amelia Worne	1,103	41.1	+10.6
	Green	Helen Ruth Justice	1,036	38.6	N/A
	Conservative	Kevin Edmundston	1,035	38.6	−8.3
	Labour	Paul Anthony Summers	990	36.9	+15.3
Majority			67	2.5
Registered electors			8,441
Turnout			2,684	32.11
Rejected ballots			26	1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Arundel and Walberton

Arundel and Walberton (3 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Stephen McAuliffe *	1,471	56.9	+18.0
	Green	Carol Jane Birch	1,363	52.7	N/A
	Green	Melanie Jill Penycate	1,198	46.3	N/A
	Conservative	Gary Markwell	833	32.2	−15.7
	Conservative	Stephen Reynolds	787	30.4	−10.2
	Conservative	Mario Trabucco	733	28.3	−9.2
	Labour	Michael Ward	714	27.6	+9.0
Majority			365	14.1
Registered electors			6,991
Turnout			2,586	37.23
Rejected ballots			17	0.7
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing
	Green hold		Swing

Steve McAuliffe was previously elected at a by-election, retaining one of the Green seats.

Barnham

Barnham (3 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Paul Brian Ayling	1,316	59.4	+15.3
	Green	Sue Jennifer Ellen Wallsgrove *	1,252	56.5	N/A
	Green	Anita June Lawrence	1,030	46.5	N/A
	Conservative	Stephen Haymes	712	32.1	−18.0
	Conservative	Susan Bence	677	30.6	−9.8
	Conservative	Graham Lewis Jones	620	28.0	−7.4
	Labour	William John Ashton	425	19.2	−2.3
	TUSC	Susan Welch	56	2.5	N/A
Majority			318	14.4
Registered electors			7,599
Turnout			2,216	29.31
Rejected ballots			11	0.5
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing
	Green hold		Swing
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing

Sue Wallsgrove was previously elected at a by-election, gaining one of the Conservative seats.

Beach

Beach (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Billy Blanchard-Cooper	782	55.4	−10.5
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Woodman	697	49.4	−8.6
	Conservative	Mick Warren	433	30.7	+7.2
	Conservative	Travis Hayler	392	27.8	+4.4
	Labour	Stephen Bernard McConnell	230	16.3	+6.9
	Labour	Michael Terence Murphy	203	14.4	+4.9
Majority			264	18.7
Registered electors			3,856
Turnout			1,411	37.01
Rejected ballots			16	1.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Bersted

Bersted (3 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keir Greenway	852	47.4	+20.6
	Liberal Democrats	Gill Yeates *	841	46.8	+4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Lury *	826	46.0	+6.2
	Conservative	David Raymond Paige	610	34.0	+9.9
	Labour	Nigel Smith	540	30.1	+17.2
	Conservative	Rob Outen	513	28.6	+7.4
Majority			216	12.0
Registered electors			7,547
Turnout			1,796	23.97
Rejected ballots			13	0.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Brookfield

Brookfield (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	James Michael Meade Walsh	618	48.1	−8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jill Irene Fortnam Long	586	45.6	−9.1
	Conservative	Mikey Blackwood	409	31.9	+2.6
	Conservative	David Edward Chace *	404	31.5	+2.3
	Labour	Neil Alistair Campbell	265	20.6	+10.5
	Heritage	Jane Neal	61	4.8	N/A
Majority			177	13.8
Registered electors			4,792
Turnout			1,284	27.13
Rejected ballots			16	1.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

David Chace was previously elected at a by-election, gaining one of the Liberal Democrat seats.

Courtwick with Toddington

Courtwick with Toddington (3 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Northeast *	766	47.5	+7.4
	Labour	Maralyn May	695	43.1	+8.6
	Labour	Freddie William Tandy	637	39.5	+5.0
	Conservative	Tony Woodward	582	36.1	−4.9
	Conservative	Vicky Rhodes *	530	32.8	−4.5
	Conservative	Rod Vincent	523	32.4	−2.4
	Green	Deborah O'Reilly	356	22.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Saša Krajnc	242	15.0	−9.7
Majority			55	3.4
Registered electors			7,965
Turnout			1,614	20.44
Rejected ballots			14	0.9
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

East Preston

East Preston (3 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Philippa Bower	1,329	54.4	−10.3
	Conservative	Paul Kelly *	1,294	52.9	−8.2
	Conservative	Ricky Bower *	1,281	52.4	−12.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Michael Richards	768	31.4	+4.3
	Green	Liz Hammond	740	30.3	N/A
	Labour	Alex Haslam	560	22.9	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	David Richard Tilbrook	510	20.9	−6.0
Majority			513	21.0
Registered electors			7,047
Turnout			2,444	34.91
Rejected ballots			16	0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Felpham East

Felpham East (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tom Harty	575	43.4	N/A
	Conservative	Joan Constance English	530	40.0	−18.9
	Conservative	Paul Anthony English *	527	39.7	−21.4
	Independent	Rick Parker	506	38.2	N/A
	Labour	Stuart Varndall	284	21.4	N/A
Majority			3	0.2
Registered electors			4,741
Turnout			1,326	27.99
Rejected ballots			1	0.1
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Felpham West

Felpham West (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gill Madeley *	651	42.5	−15.4
	Conservative	Elaine Stainton *	593	38.7	−15.0
	Independent	Martin Harvey	486	31.7	N/A
	Green	Linda Lancaster	382	25.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Roslyn Anne Kissell	326	21.3	−6.7
	Labour	Ray Mills	301	19.7	+8.0
Majority			107	7.0
Registered electors			4,884
Turnout			1,531	31.47
Rejected ballots			6	0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ferring

Ferring (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Elkins *	1,018	61.4	−7.3
	Conservative	Mark Turner	949	57.3	−11.4
	Labour	Dorothy Portia Macedo	403	24.3	+7.0
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Helen Roberts	316	19.1	+5.3
	Green	Kerstin Sonnemann	272	16.4	N/A
Majority			546	33.0
Registered electors			4,184
Turnout			1,657	39.67
Rejected ballots			3	0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hotham

Hotham (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jeanette Warr *	402	42.6	+11.3
	Independent	Steve Goodheart *	389	41.3	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Waterhouse	304	32.2	+1.4
	Conservative	David Nicholas Britton	229	24.3	+5.2
	Labour	David Meagher	208	22.1	+7.9
Majority			85	9.0
Registered electors			4,290
Turnout			943	22.21
Rejected ballots			10	1.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Marine

Marine (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jim Brooks *	669	59.6	−1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Matt Stanley *	468	41.7	+3.1
	Labour	Heather Robbins	354	31.5	+12.4
	Conservative	Philip Richard James Sanders	295	26.3	+3.5
Majority			114	10.2
Registered electors			4,815
Turnout			1,123	23.34
Rejected ballots			1	0.1
	Independent hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Middleton-on-Sea

Middleton-on-Sea (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jacky Pendleton *	729	49.3	+5.9
	Independent	Shirley Yvonne Haywood *	639	43.2	+0.2
	Conservative	David Darling	556	37.6	−1.7
	Green	Liam Warren	336	22.7	N/A
	Labour	Jeff Daws	266	18.0	+12.6
Majority			83	5.6
Registered electors			4,192
Turnout			1,478	35.40
Rejected ballots			6	0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Orchard

Orchard (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Francis Oppler *	477	47.2	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Kenton Batley	375	37.1	+3.1
	Independent	Phil Woodall	236	23.3	−4.0
	Labour	Jan Cosgrove	231	22.8	+2.2
	Conservative	Billy Edward Kelly	207	20.5	−0.7
	Independent	Kinga Elzbieta Arciszewska	169	16.7	N/A
Majority			139	13.7
Registered electors			4,727
Turnout			1,011	21.51
Rejected ballots			6	0.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Pagham

Pagham (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Huntley *	1,037	65.8	+3.2
	Independent	June Hamilton *	825	52.3	−2.4
	Conservative	Harry Triggs	462	29.3	+8.6
	Labour	Pauline Nash	298	18.9	+12.5
Majority			363	23.0
Registered electors			5,211
Turnout			1,577	30.30
Rejected ballots			2	0.1
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Pevensey

Pevensey (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roger Nash	292	30.3	+12.5
	Labour	Simon McDougall	277	28.7	+9.4
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Wells	247	25.6	−13.3
	Conservative	Pat Dillon	235	24.4	−1.7
	Liberal Democrats	John Barrett	207	21.5	−9.7
	Independent	Sandra Elizabeth Daniells *	163	16.9	−22.6
	Independent	Adam William Wojtek Cunard	159	16.5	N/A
	Green	John Paul Erskine	76	7.9	−23.3
	Green	Paul Wyatt	72	7.5	N/A
Majority			30	3.1
Registered electors			4,077
Turnout			965	24.04
Rejected ballots			15	1.5
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

River

River (3 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Keith O'Neill	674	34.8	+11.5
	Labour	Alan Terence Butcher	665	34.3	+12.2
	Labour	Mary Christine Wiltshire	665	34.3	+14.3
	Conservative	Michelle Molloy	559	28.9	+6.5
	Conservative	Nigel Smith	505	26.1	+7.3
	Conservative	Gary Russell Hart	504	26.0	+9.5
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Buckland *	499	25.8	−17.8
	Liberal Democrats	Ady Clark	425	21.9	−19.4
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Croft	350	18.1	−19.1
	Green	Lilias Rider Haggard Cheyne	331	17.1	N/A
	Heritage	Gabi Gates	104	5.4	N/A
Majority			106	5.5
Registered electors			7,126
Turnout			1,937	27.35
Rejected ballots			12	0.6
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Rustington East

Rustington East (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alison Cooper *	1,086	62.7	+1.5
	Conservative	Shaun Gunner *	973	56.2	+2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Anchorette Lucy Parvin-Blackstone	557	32.2	+1.0
	Labour	Sean Lee	494	28.5	+17.4
Majority			416	24.0
Registered electors			4,473
Turnout			1,731	39.01	+3.2
Rejected ballots			14	0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rustington West

Rustington West (3 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lesley-Anne Lloyd	1,101	45.9	+7.7
	Conservative	Peggy Partridge	1,033	43.1	+7.2
	Conservative	Lynne Edwards	1,018	42.4	+6.9
	Liberal Democrats	Pauline Anne Gregory *	934	38.9	−13.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jamie Bennett *	811	33.8	−15.9
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Jays	757	31.6	−14.1
	Green	Faye Faithful	452	18.8	N/A
	Labour	Bernadette Millam	390	16.3	+5.4
Majority			84	3.5
Registered electors			6,888
Turnout			2,399	35.05
Rejected ballots			15	0.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Yapton

Yapton (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Worne *	1,160	69.8	+15.6
	Liberal Democrats	Henry Jones *	1,039	62.6	+25.3
	Conservative	Oli Byron-Davies	395	23.8	−2.1
	Conservative	Paul Dendle	364	21.9	−3.2
	Labour	Doris Audrey Richards	176	10.6	N/A
Majority			644	38.8
Registered electors			5,432
Turnout			1,661	30.73
Rejected ballots			8	0.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Changes 2023–2027

• Conservative councillor Trevor Bence (Aldwick East) left the party to sit as an independent in mid-2024, before joining Reform UK later that year and becoming leader of its group on the council.^[8][9]

By-elections

Marine

Marine by-election: 24 April 2025^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Giuliano Pinnelli	306	26.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Wells	296	25.2	–1.0
	Labour	Alison Terry	236	20.1	+0.3
	Conservative	Diana Thas	192	16.3	–0.2
	Green	John Erskine	115	9.8	N/A
	Independent	Phil Woodall	31	2.6	N/A
Majority			10	0.8	N/A
Turnout			1,189	25.3	+2.0
Registered electors			4,699
Rejected ballots			13	1.1
	Reform gain from Independent

The by-election was called following the death in January 2025 of Independent councillor Jim Brooks, who had represented Marine ward since 2007.^[11]

References

1. "Notice of Election". Arun District Council. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
2. Gormley, Connor (5 May 2023). "Arun District local election results 2023 - Conservatives are largest party, but strong showing for Labour". Sussex World. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
3. "Council meeting, 31 May 2023". Arun District Council. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
4. Dunn, Karen (1 June 2023). "Coalition of Lib Dems, Labour, Greens and Independents to run Arun District Council". Sussex World. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
5. "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
6. "Statement of Persons Nominated". Arun District Council. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
7. "Arun District Council election results 4 May 2023". Arun District Council. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
8. "Councillor Trevor Bence". Arun District Council. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
9. "Councillor Trevor Bence". Arun District Council. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
10. "Declaration of result of poll: Marine Ward (District)" (PDF). Arun District Council. 24 April 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2026. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
11. Hanway, Thomas (3 April 2025). "Two by-elections called following death of Bognor Regis councillor". Sussex World. Archived from the original on 3 April 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2026.