2023 Luton Borough Council election

The 2023 Luton Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Luton Borough Council in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England. Labour retained its majority on the council.

2023 Luton Borough Council election
4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
All 48 seats to Luton Borough Council
25 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Hazel Simmons David Franks John Young
Party Labour Liberal Democrats Conservative
Last election 32 seats, 56.7% 12 seats, 17.2% 4 seats, 19.2%
Seats before 28 17 2
Seats won 30 15 3
Seat change Decrease 2 Increase 3 Decrease 1
Popular vote 19,199 14,036 3,998
Percentage 48.7% 35.6% 10.1%
Swing Decrease 8.0% Increase 18.4pp Decrease 9.1pp
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Luton Borough Council election
Leader before election

Hazel Simmons
Labour

 Leader after election

Hazel Simmons
Labour

Overview

New ward boundaries were drawn up for this election, increasing the number of wards from 19 to 20, although the overall number of councillors stayed the same at 48.[1][2]

The council had been controlled by Labour since 2007, with its leader since then being Hazel Simmons. Issues debated by the candidates included the ongoing financial impact on the council of money it lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when flights from council-owned Luton Airport were stopped. Suggestions for how to improve the town centre were also debated, with Historic England having added the town centre's main street, George Street, to its Heritage at Risk Register in November 2022.[3][4]

Shortly before the election, three Labour councillors who were not re-selected to be Labour candidates at this election left the party; two (Ghulam Javed and Summara Khurshid) joined the Liberal Democrats and one (Anne Donelon) sat as an independent.[5][6]

Labour retained a majority on the council, winning 30 of the 48 seats. Of the councillors elected at this election, 20 had not been councillors in the previous term.[7] The two former Labour councillors who joined the Liberal Democrats shortly before the election both stood as Liberal Democrat candidates; both were defeated by Labour.[8]

Summary

Election result

The overall results were:[9]

2023 Luton Borough Council election
Party Candidates Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 48 30 0 2 Decrease 2 62.5 48.7 19,199 –8.0
  Liberal Democrats 33 15 2 0 Increase 3 31.3 35.6 14,036 +18.4
  Conservative 15 3 0 0 Decrease 1 6.3 10.1 3,998 –9.1
  Independent 8 0 0 0 Steady 0.0 4.3 1,713 +0.4
  Reform UK 2 0 0 0 Steady 0.0 1.2 455 N/A

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Luton Borough Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.[10] The results were as follows, with sitting councillors standing for re-election marked with an asterisk(*):[8]

Barnfield
Barnfield (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats David Franks* 1,690 52.8
Liberal Democrats Jeff Petts* 1,627 50.9
Liberal Democrats Amjid Ali* 1,551 48.5
Labour Shahriar Ahmed 1,174 36.7
Labour Sameera Saleem* 956 29.9
Labour Anwar Haque 932 29.1
Conservative Alex Dearden 378 11.8
Conservative Sam Deekue 371 11.6
Conservative Zahid Mohmand 274 8.6
Turnout 3,199 36.1
Registered electors 8,862
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Beech Hill
Beech Hill (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rumi Chowdhury 2,158 67.6
Labour Javed Hussain* 2,127 66.7
Labour Rehana Malik 1,928 60.4
Liberal Democrats Mahbubul Karim 958 30.0
Liberal Democrats Adrees Latif 947 29.7
Liberal Democrats Ghulam Javed* 737 23.1
Turnout 3,220 36.1
Registered electors 8,917
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)

Biscot
Biscot (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Zanib Raja 937 42.7
Labour Tahmina Saleem* 929 42.3
Independent Fazilat Ali-Khan 713 32.5
Independent Tipu Moheeuddin 643 29.3 N/A
Liberal Democrats Shahin Uddin 525 23.9
Liberal Democrats Junaid Malik 431 19.6 N/A
Turnout 2,222 34.4
Registered electors 6,463
Labour hold
Labour hold

Bramingham
Bramingham (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stuart Miller 1,601 50.9
Conservative John Baker 1,529 48.6
Conservative Aziz Ambia 1,463 46.5
Labour Desmond Billington 1,279 40.7
Labour Bodrul Amin 1,268 40.3
Labour Mehmood Khan 1,171 37.2
Turnout 3,179 33.1
Registered electors 9,591
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
Conservative win (new seat)

Central
Central (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Fatima Begum* 626 73.9
Labour Yaqub Hanif 447 52.8
Independent Belal Ahmed 195 23.0
Liberal Democrats Abid Aziz 122 14.4
Liberal Democrats Amir Aziz 110 13.0
Independent Anwar Hussain 78 9.2
Turnout 858 16.5
Registered electors 5,203
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)

Challney
Challney (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Basit Mahmood 1,572 62.7
Labour Khtija Malik* 1,562 62.3
Labour Tom Shaw* 1,546 61.7
Liberal Democrats Mohammed Javid 654 26.1
Liberal Democrats Shahid Zaman 593 23.7
Liberal Democrats Farzana Ahktar 587 23.4
Turnout 2,540 27.4
Registered electors 9,270
Labour hold
Labour hold
Labour hold

Dallow
Dallow (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mohammed Farooq 1,101 62.2
Labour Alia Khan* 1,059 59.8
Liberal Democrats Bashrat Hussain 619 35.0
Liberal Democrats Abbas Hussain* 492 27.8
Turnout 1,793 32.3
Registered electors 5,556
Labour hold
Labour hold

Dallow ward was represented by three councillors prior to the boundary changes which took effect for this election. Immediately before the election it was represented by two Labour and one Liberal Democrat councillors, the latter being Abbas Hussain who defected from Labour shortly before the election.

Farley
Farley (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Javeria Hussain* Unopposed
Labour Mahmood Hussain* Unopposed
Labour Dave Taylor* Unopposed
Registered electors
Labour hold
Labour hold
Labour hold

High Town
High Town (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Taylor 798 56.1
Labour Umme Ali* 783 55.0
Independent John French 446 31.3 N/A
Independent Mohammed Shahid 294 20.7 N/A
Conservative Lesley Hill 231 16.2
Turnout 1,436 23.1
Registered electors 6,224
Labour hold
Labour hold

Leagrave
Leagrave (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Maria Lovell* 1,020 55.1
Labour Francis Steer 842 45.5
Conservative Ifthekher Alom 692 37.4
Conservative Malik Nikyalvi 465 25.1
Reform UK James Fletcher 224 12.1
Turnout 1,860 27.1
Registered electors 6,863
Labour hold
Labour hold

Lewsey
Lewsey (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Hazel Simmons* 1,008 74.3
Labour Yarun Begum 912 67.3
Conservative Edward Carpenter 272 20.1
Independent Afia Parveen 142 10.5
Turnout 1,366 22.0
Registered electors 6,215
Labour hold
Labour hold

Northwell
Northwell (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rob Roche* 1,400 60.1
Labour Amy Nicholls* 1,397 60.0
Labour Babatunde Ajisola 1,306 56.1
Conservative Philip Turner 664 28.5
Conservative Ash Ali 520 22.3
Conservative Shashi Rudrangi 482 20.7
Reform UK Jim Cohen 231 9.9
Independent Anwar Hussain 217 9.3
Turnout 2,338 25.4
Registered electors 9,214
Labour hold
Labour hold
Labour win (new seat)

Prior to the election Northwell was represented by two councillors, one of whom (Anne Donelon) had been elected as Labour but subsequently left the party and sat as an independent.

Poets
Poets (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jacqui Burnett* 919 53.0
Labour Aslam Khan* 866 49.9
Liberal Democrats Taimoor Ali 749 43.2
Liberal Democrats Evaline Omondi 692 39.9
Turnout 1,752 30.2
Registered electors 5,803
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)

Round Green
Round Green (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Gillian Fry 910 48.6
Liberal Democrats Zahoor Ahmed 799 42.7
Labour Raja Khan 785 41.9
Labour Yasmin Waheed* 682 36.4
Conservative Saiful Choudhury 160 8.5
Conservative Mohammed Shaikh 136 7.3
Turnout 1,884 29.3
Registered electors 6,433
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour
Liberal Democrats hold

Prior to the election Round Green was represented by three councillors: two Liberal Democrats and one Labour.

Saints
Saints (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Saima Hussain* 1,630 54.1
Labour Ghulam Abbas 1,594 52.9
Labour Shahanara Naser 1,525 50.6
Liberal Democrats Anwar Malik 1,202 39.9
Liberal Democrats Summara Khurshid* 1,187 39.4
Liberal Democrats Baber Hussain 1,078 35.8
Turnout 3,052 35.4
Registered electors 8,615
Labour hold
Labour hold
Labour hold

South
South (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Steve Stephens 710 51.9
Labour Charmaine Isles 645 47.2
Liberal Democrats Deborah Abodunrin-Olokode 602 44.0
Labour David Agbley* 589 43.1
Turnout 1,378 22.9
Registered electors 6,025
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour
Labour hold

Stopsley
Stopsley (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Richard Underwood* 2,185 76.1
Liberal Democrats David Wynn* 2,142 74.6
Liberal Democrats Nigel Marshall 2,137 74.4
Labour Shajarul Islam 629 21.9
Labour Imtiaz Ahmed 596 20.7
Labour Sadiqul Choudhury 593 20.6
Turnout 2,884 31.5
Registered electors 9,170
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Sundon Park
Sundon Park (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Steve Moore* 1,010 57.5
Liberal Democrats Clive Mead* 962 54.8
Labour Deanne Johnson 722 41.1
Labour Masood Akhtar 630 35.9
Turnout 1,767 31.6
Registered electors 5,592
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats hold

Vauxhall
Vauxhall (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Terry Keens* 893 66.2
Liberal Democrats Lee Bridgen* 868 64.4
Labour Shana Begum 422 31.3
Labour Bobby Thomas 389 28.9
Turnout 1,354 26.3
Registered electors 5,142
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Wigmore
Wigmore (2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Claire Gallagher 1,809 81.5
Liberal Democrats Alan Skepelhorn* 1,760 79.3
Labour Raja Ahmed* 374 16.8
Labour Barnes Mayunga 338 15.2
Turnout 2,249 32.4
Registered electors 6,931
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats hold

References
  1. "The Luton (Electoral Changes) Order 2022", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2022/824, retrieved 29 April 2023
  2. "Notice of election" (PDF). Luton Borough Council. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  3. Holmes, Amy (25 April 2023). "Local elections 2023: Can Labour continue its winning run in Luton?". BBC News. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  4. "Luton's George Street added to Historic England's at risk register". BBC News. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  5. "Luton councillor removed from key roles after leaving Labour Party". Bedfordshire Live. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  6. "Councillors". Luton Borough Council. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  7. "Local elections 2023: Conservatives lose control of Central Beds". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  8. "Local election results 2023". Luton Borough Council. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  9. "Luton election result". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023. Note that when ward boundaries have changed, as here, the BBC coverage compares results to a notional pre-election position which in this case appears to have differed from the actual immediate pre-election position due to the defections shortly beforehand.
  10. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Luton Borough Council. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
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