2023 Cannock Chase District Council election

Elections to Cannock Chase District Council took place on 4 May 2023[1] on the same day as other local elections in England, including to eight parish councils in the district. All of the council's wards were up for election, and there were two vacancies to be filled, meaning a total of 17 councillors were elected.

2023 Cannock Chase District Council election

4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
15 out of 41 seats to Cannock Chase District Council 21 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Labour Green Last election 25 seats, 61.0% 8 seats, 19.5% 2 seats, 492% Seats before 21 12 2 Seats won 4 9 4 Seats after 18 17 5 Seat change 3 5 3 Popular vote 6,626 9,269 3,352 Percentage 32.1% 44.9% 16.2% Swing 10.0% 6.9% 10.1%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Independent Liberal Democrats Last election 1 seats, 2.4% 1 seat, 2.4% Seats before 1 2 Seats won 0 0 Seats after 0 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 965 434 Percentage 4.7% 2.1% Swing 3.8% 0.6%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Cannock Chase District Council election
Council control before election Conservative Council control after election TBD

At the previous local election in Cannock Chase, the Conservatives retained the seats they were defending and gained one from Labour, increasing their overall majority. At this election, they were defending seven seats which they won at the 2019 election. Labour were looking to make gains for the first time since 2016 after being reduced to eight seats, their lowest ever seat total, at the 2022 election. After the resignation of the last remaining councillors from the localist Chase Community Independent Group, the Green Party were hoping to regain seats in the Hednesford area which they had held before the Chase Indies' formation in 2020. The Liberal Democrats were looking to retain one of two seats they held in the Brereton and Ravenhill ward; they did not field candidates in any other wards.

There had been substantial changes to the makeup of the council since the May 2022 election. Four Conservative councillors had resigned from the council whilst another had defected to Labour; the Conservatives successfully defended their Cannock West seat but lost the Hednesford North and Etching Hill and the Heath by-elections to Labour. This reduced their total from 25 councillors to 21. Meanwhile, the leader of the Chase Community Independent Group resigned his Hednesford South seat shortly before the election was called. This, along with a last minute Conservative resignation in Cannock East, resulted in there being two councillors elected in two of the council's wards.

The outcome of the election was a decisive shift to Labour, with them picking up the highest number of votes and seats for the first time since the 2016 election.[2] Labour gained three seats from the Conservatives, one from the Liberal Democrats, and regained a seat in Cannock North which had been held by a former Labour independent councillor. This boosted their seat count from 12 just before the election to 17. The Conservatives saw their vote share drop by 10% for the second year in a row, leading to them losing three seats and their overall majority. They remained the largest party by a single seat. The Greens regained three seats in Hednesford which had been held by former Green councillors, leaving them with the five seats they had following the 2019 election. The Liberal Democrats lost to Labour in their one remaining ward, reducing them to one seat for the second time in the council's history.

Across the district, there was a substantial 9.7% swing to Labour compared to 2019; compared to 2022, the swing to Labour was a slightly smaller 8.5%.