The 2023 Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council elections took place on 4 May 2023 alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. Due to boundary changes, all 63 seats on

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC), also known as Stockport Council, is the Local government in England, local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council an ...

were contested. The council was under

no overall control In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom no overall control (NOC; ) is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparable to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for elec ...

prior to the election, being led by a Liberal Democrat minority administration. The council remained under no overall control after the election, but the Liberal Democrats increased their share of the seats.

Background

Stockport began as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

council, with Conservative majorities from 1975 to 1982. The Liberal Democrats (

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

from 1973 to 1988) overtook the Conservatives in 1992, and formed their first administration in 1999, before another period of

from 2000 to

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with the second Liberal Democrat majority lasting until

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. A Labour minority administration replaced the Liberal Democrats in

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, and survived until

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, when the Lib Dems increased their lead over the Labour Party and were able to take control of the authority. In November 2022 the

Local Government Boundary Commission for England The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is a parliamentary body established by statute to conduct boundary, electoral and structural reviews of local government areas in England. The LGBCE is independent of government and po ...

made The Stockport (Electoral Changes) Order 2022, which officially abolished the 21 existing wards and replaced them with 21 new wards on different boundaries. Because of this change all 63 seats on the council, three per ward, were contested.

Electoral process

The election took place using the

plurality block voting Plurality block voting is a type of block voting method for multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected. The usual result when the candidates div ...

system, a form of

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

, with each ward being represented by three councillors. The candidate with the most votes in each ward will serve a four year term ending in 2027, the second-placed candidate will serve a three year term anding in 2026 and the third-placed candidate will serve a one year term ending in 2024. All

registered electors In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...

(

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, Irish,

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and

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citizens) living in Stockport aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the election. People who lived at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, were entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities. Voting in-person at polling stations took place from 07:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters were able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.

Previous council composition

Results

Bold names highlight a winning candidate.

Bramhall North

Bramhall South & Woodford

Bredbury & Woodley

Bredbury Green & Romiley

Brinnington & Stockport Central

Cheadle East & Cheadle Hulme North

Cheadle Hulme South

Cheadle West & Gatley

Davenport & Cale Green

Edgeley

Hazel Grove

Heald Green

Heatons North

Heatons South

Manor

Marple North

Marple South & High Lane

Norbury & Woodsmoor

Offerton

Reddish North

Reddish South

References

{{Greater Manchester elections

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council elections