The 2023 Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council in Berkshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections. The election saw the Liberal Democrats win a majority of the seats on the council, which had previously been under Conservative control.

Overview Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council had been under Conservative majority control since 2007. The Conservative leader of the council was Andrew Johnson, who had been leader since 2019. Prior to the election, there were six registered political parties represented on the council (two of which were Residents' Associations) and one independent councillor. The Old Windsor Residents' Association, The Borough First Independents, and the one independent councillor had all formed a political group called the "Local Independents", led by Lynne Jones. There was one vacancy on the council immediately before the election, where a Liberal Democrat councillor for Belmont ward had resigned in March 2023.

The election saw the Liberal Democrats win 22 of the 41 seats on the council, up from 10 before the election, giving them an overall majority. The Conservatives saw their number of seats fall from 22 to 7. One of the Conservatives to lose their seat was the leader of the council, Andrew Johnson.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Simon Werner, was formally appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 23 May 2023. The Conservatives appointed Maureen Hunt to be their new leader in opposition.

Before the election, the composition of the council was: +↓2299

After the election, the composition of the council became: +↓22127

Summary

Election result

Ward results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.

Ascot and Sunninghill

Belmont

Bisham and Cookham

Boyn Hill

Bray

Clewer and Dedworth East

Clewer and Dedworth West

Clewer East

Cox Green

Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury

Eton and Castle

Furze Platt

Hurley and Walthams

Oldfield

Old Windsor

Pinkneys Green

Riverside

St Mary's

Gurch Singh had been elected as a Conservative in 2019 but had defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2020.

Sunningdale and Cheapside

Changes 2023–2027 July 2024: Geoff Hill, elected for the Borough First Independents in Oldfield, resigned from the party. August 2024: Kashmir Singh, elected as a Liberal Democrat for Riverside, joined the Labour Party. September 2024: Helen Taylor, elected for the Borough First Independents in Oldfield, resigned from the party. October 2024: Kashmir Singh left Labour to sit as an independent. January 2025: Helen Price (Clewer and Dedworth East), Suzanne Cross (Bray) and Jodie Grove (Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury), all elected for the Borough First Independents, left the party. April 2025: David Buckley, elected for the Borough First Independents in Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury, joined Reform UK. December 2025: Jack Douglas, Liberal Democrat councillor for St Mary's, was suspended by the Liberal Democrat group and sat as an independent; Geoff Hill then joined the Liberal Democrats, preserving the party's one-seat majority. January 2026: The West Windsor Residents Association was voluntarily deregistered as a political party on 26 January; its two councillors, Carole Da Costa and Wisdom Da Costa, remained on the council as independents. February 2026: Jack Douglas joined the Borough First Independents. May 2026: Carole Da Costa joined the Borough First Independents. July 2026: Kashmir Singh, who had been with the Borough First Independents since May 2026, resigned from the group on 15 July. September 2026: Suzanne Cross joined the Conservatives.

By-elections

Ascot and Sunninghill

Conservative councillor John Story stood down with immediate effect for health reasons, triggering this by-election.

Bray

The by-election was called following the death of Conservative councillor Leo Walters, who had represented Bray for more than 50 years.

References