Prior to the election the Conservatives held a majority of the seats on the council. There were thirteen seats (24%) that were elected unopposed in 2023, of which ten were taken by the Conservatives, two by independents and one by the Liberal Democrats.[2]
The council went under no overall control following the election. The Conservatives remained the largest party but lost their majority. They managed to form a minority administration and their leader, Craig Leyland, kept his position as leader of the council.[3][4]
Terry Taylor had won the seat in a by-election in 2022; in 2019 the seat had been won by independent councillor Jim Swanson. Seat shown as Conservative gain from independent to allow comparison with 2019 results.
The other previous incumbent, Sarah Parkin, had been elected as a Labour councillor in 2019 but left the party later that year and sat as an independent for the rest of her term of office. Seat shown as independent gain from Labour to allow comparison with 2019 results.[7]
David Mangion had been elected in 2019 as an independent, but joined the Conservatives in 2020. Seat shown as an independent hold to allow comparison with 2019 results.[8]
^Of the eleven independent councillors prior to the election, eight sat as the "Independents" group led by Jill Makinson-Sanders, one sat with the Liberal Democrat as the "Liberal Democrat/Independent" group and the other two did not belong to a group.[1]
