The 2023 East Cambridgeshire District Council election took place on 4 May, 2023, to elect all 28 members of East Cambridgeshire District Council in Cambridgeshire, England. The Conservative Party retained control of the Council.
Overview Prior to the election the council was under Conservative control. At the previous election in 2019 the Conservatives had won 15 seats and the Liberal Democrats had won 13 seats. A by-election and changes of allegiance between 2019 and 2022 meant that going into the election the Conservative held 16 seats and the Liberal Democrats 9 seats, with an independent group comprising two former Liberal Democrats. There was also one vacant seat.
Following the results, the council remained under Conservative control; the overall result in seat numbers was the same as that of 2019, with the Conservatives taking 15 seats and the Liberal Democrats 13 seats. 2023 East Cambridgeshire District Council electionPartySeatsChangeConservative Party15Liberal Democrats13
In November 2024, Cllr Lay who represents Woodditton resigned from the Conservatives to join the newly formed Liberal Democrat and Independent Group. This put the Council on a tie 14-14 for councillors, but the Conservatives continued to run the Council on the casting vote of the chair. Cllr Denney who was elected as a Lib Dem in the Stretham by-election joined the Conservatives in June 2026 (having been in the 'Conservative and Independent group' for the previous two months). As a result, the Council returned to majority Conservative control.
Election result
Ward results The results for each ward were: Bottisham
At the General Election on 4 July 2024, Councillor Cane was elected as MP of Ely and East Cambridgeshire. As of June 2026, she continues as a councillor on top of her parliamentary duties. One of a very small number of MPs who have chosen to continue in both roles.
Burwell
Downham
Ely East
Ely North
Ely West
Seats recorded as Liberal Democrat holds for comparison with 2019, but two of the three councillors in this ward had subsequently left the party and formed an independent group in 2020. One of them, Sue Austen, stood for re-election as an independent but was unsuccessful.
Fordham & Isleham
Haddenham
Littleport
Soham North
Both seats are recorded as Conservative gains from Liberal Democrats to allow comparison with the 2019 result, but Mark Goldsack had earlier won his seat for the Conservatives in a by-election in 2021.
Soham South Lucius Vellacott was 18 on the date of his election, making him the youngest District Councillor in the United Kingdom at the time. https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/23507323.lucius-vellacott-ecdc-interview-uk-youngest-district-councillor/
Stretham
Cllr Shepherd resigned in late March 2025 triggering a by-election that took place in May 2025 and was held by the Lib Dems.
Sutton
Woodditton
In November 2024, James Lay resigned from the Conservative Party to sit as an Independent although part of the, then newly established, Liberal Democrat and Independent group on the Council.
By-elections Ely West
Triggered by resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor Robert Pitt.
Stretham Triggered by resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor Caroline Shepherd.
In April 2026, Cllr Denney left the Liberal Democrats and joined the Conservative and Independent Group on the Council. In June 2026, Cllr Denney joined the Conservatives.
References