2023 Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council election

← 2022 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2024 →
63 of 63 seats to Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council 32 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Tom Ross Linda Blackburn Dan Jerrome Party Labour Conservative Green Leader's seat Stretford and Humphrey Park Village (stood down) Altrincham Last election 15 seats, 45.1% 3 seats, 30.6% 2 seats, 13.5% Seats before 41 13 4 Seats won 41 10 6 Seats after 41 10 6 Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 83,275 53,111 29,619 Percentage 44.6% 28.4% 15.8% Swing 0.5% 2.2% 2.3%   Fourth party   Leader Julian Newgrosh Party Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Timperley Central Last election 2 seats, 10.1% Seats before 5 Seats won 6 Seats after 6 Seat change 1 Popular vote 20,167 Percentage 10.8% Swing 0.7%
Map of results of 2023 election
Leader of the Council before election Tom Ross Labour Leader of the Council after election Tom Ross Labour

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

Labour retained its majority on the council.^[1][2]

Background

The Local Government Act 1972 created a two-tier system of metropolitan counties and districts covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands, and West Yorkshire starting in 1974. Manchester was a district of the Greater Manchester metropolitan county.^[3] The Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan counties, with metropolitan districts taking on most of their powers as metropolitan boroughs. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority was created in 2011 and began electing the mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017, which was given strategic powers covering a region coterminous with the former Greater Manchester metropolitan county.^[4]

Since its creation in 1974, the council has predominantly been controlled by the Conservative Party, with the Conservatives in power between 1973–85, 1988–94, and 2004–2018. The Labour Party was in control from 1996–2002, and from 2018 to the present. The rest of the time were periods of no overall control.^[5]

In December 2022, the leader of the council Andrew Western was elected as Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston. Western stood down as council leader in January 2023, with Tom Ross subsequently being elected as leader.^[6]

In June 2022, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England made The Trafford (Electoral Changes) Order 2022, which officially abolished the existing 21 wards and created 21 new wards with different boundaries. Because of this change, all 63 seats on the council, three per ward, were contested.^[7]

Electoral process

The election took place using the plurality block voting system, a form of first-past-the-post voting, 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.^[7]

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in Trafford 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.

Election result

Party		Votes			Seats
Labour Party		83,275 (44.6%)		0.6	41 (65.1%)	41 / 63
Conservative Party		53,111 (28.4%)		2.2	10 (15.9%)	10 / 63	3
Green Party		29,619 (15.8%)		2.3	6 (9.5%)	6 / 63	2
Liberal Democrats		20,167 (10.8%)		0.7	6 (9.5%)	6 / 63	1
Independent		401 (0.4%)		0.1	0 (0.0%)	0 / 63
Reform UK		281 (0.3%)		N/A	0 (0.0%)	0 / 63	N/A
Britain First		153 (0.2%)		N/A	0 (0.0%)	0 / 63	N/A
Women's Equality Party		107 (0.1%)		0.1	0 (0.0%)	0 / 63

Ward results

• Asterisks denote incumbent councillors seeking re-election.
• Double asterisk denote incumbent councillors seeking re-election in another ward

Altrincham

Ashton upon Mersey

Bowdon

Broadheath

Brooklands

Bucklow St Martins

Davyhulme

Flixton

Gorse Hill & Cornbrook

Hale

Hale Barns & Timperley South

Longford

Lostock & Barton

Manor

Old Trafford

Sale Central

Sale Moor

Stretford & Humphrey Park

Timperley Central

Timperley North

Urmston

By-elections between 2023 and 2024

Bucklow St Martins: 2 November 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frances Cosby	794	62.2	–3.3
	Conservative	Paul Lally	284	22.3	+3.4
	Reform UK	Paul Swansborough	82	6.4	N/A
	Green	Rodrigo Capucho Paulo	80	6.3	–3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Sellars	36	2.8	–2.8
Majority			510	39.9
Turnout			1,280	17.5
Registered electors			7,325
	Labour hold		Swing	3.4