The 2023 Thanet District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Thanet District Council in Kent, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England.
The council was under no overall control prior to the election, being led by Conservative councillor Ash Ashbee. Labour won a majority of the seats. Ash Ashbee lost her seat. Labour group leader Rick Everitt was appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 18 May 2023.
Summary The overall results were: Election result
Ward results
The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Thanet District Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023. The results for each ward were as follows:
Beacon Road
Birchington North
George Kup was a sitting councillor in Birchington South
Birchington South
Bradstowe
Central Harbour (Ramsgate)
Cliffsend & Pegwell
Cliftonville East
Cliftonville West
Dane Valley
Eastcliff
Garlinge
Kingsgate
Margate Central
Nethercourt
Newington
Northwood
Salmestone
Sir Moses Montefiore
St Peters
Thanet Villages
Sam Bambridge was a sitting councillor in Westgate-on-Sea
Viking
Westbrook
Westgate-on-Sea
Changes 2023–2027 Abi-Leigh Barlow, elected as a Conservative in 2023, quit the Conservative Party to sit as a Labour councillor on 13 February 2024. She later became known as Marlène Dasburg, continuing to represent the ward as a Labour councillor. The Thanet Independent Group, formed in 2018, dissolved during 2025; its remaining members, including Garlinge councillor John Dennis and Westgate-on-Sea councillor Bertie Braidwood, continued to sit as independents. Barry Manners, elected as a Conservative in 2023, was suspended from the Conservative group on 1 May 2025 for backing an independent candidate over the Conservative candidate in the Thanet Villages by-election, and resigned from the group on 6 May 2025 to sit as an independent. Rob Yates, elected as a Labour councillor in 2023 and serving as Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, resigned from the Labour Party to join the Green Party on 19 September 2025. Barry Manners, sitting as an independent since May 2025, joined Reform UK on 14 January 2026. Marc Rattigan, elected as a Conservative in 2023, and John Dennis, sitting as an independent since the Thanet Independent Group's dissolution, both joined Reform UK on 24 February 2026. On 16 July 2026 the government confirmed that Thanet District Council, along with Kent's other district and borough councils and Kent County Council, would be abolished and replaced by new unitary authorities as part of local government reorganisation in Kent, with Thanet forming part of a new authority covering Canterbury, Thanet and Dover; elections to the new councils are due in 2027, with the new authorities taking over full responsibilities on 1 April 2028.
By-elections
Thanet Villages
The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting Conservative councillor, Sam Bambridge, who stood down on 14 March 2025 after ten years as a councillor to concentrate on her recruitment business.
Garlinge
The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting Thanet Independents councillor, John Worrow, who stood down on 1 September 2025 citing plans to move away from the district.
References