Local elections 2023: Cheshire councils hang in the balance

Local elections will take place across Cheshire in 4 May

Voters living in parts of Cheshire will on Thursday be heading to polling stations for the first time in four years.

A lot has changed in politics and in the wider world since 2019 of course, so how will that translate in terms of what our councils will look like?

There are two "all out" elections in Cheshire - with all seats up for grabs on both Cheshire East Council and Cheshire West and Chester Council.

There are no elections in Warrington this year since the borough council held "all out" elections 12 months ago.

The issues in play vary from hyper-local concerns over potholes to wider worries about the cost of living.

• Eurovision's not the only big contest in Liverpool this May

• Your guide to England's local elections

• What photo ID do you need to vote?

• Hollyoaks creator in Cheshire devolution drive

Labour is confident of taking full control of Cheshire West and Chester Council, with party insiders in upbeat mood.

It was a Conservative-run authority until 2015 when it was gained by Labour after a recount in the final ward.

At the last election in 2019, there were extensive boundary changes and Labour lost its majority and has only been in minority control ever since.

The current make-up of the council is 33 Labour councillors, 28 Conservatives, three grouped independent councillors, three unaligned independent councillors, two Liberal Democrats and one Green.

We'll certainly be seeing some new faces, with Chester City and the Garden Quarter set to elect successors for the two Labour councillors who are not standing for re-election.

One of them is Samantha Dixon, the former council leader who in December became the city's MP in a by-election.

A total of 11 candidates are going for this ward, making it very keenly contested.

Samantha Dixon was elected with a 61% vote share, Labour's best ever result in the seat

Across the council, the Conservatives are targeting every seat, with 70 candidates vying for election.

Labour are putting up 65 candidates. While they are contesting each of the 45 wards, in some areas they are not going for all of the seats.

The Liberal Democrats have 62 candidates standing, while the Greens are contesting 27 seats.

Independents and smaller parties have a total of 22 candidates.

What are the issues?

Speaking to people on the streets of Chester, a wide range of issues came up, including everything from the cost-of-living crisis to empty shops, recycling, house prices and potholes.

Many of these may be local, but they're similar to those seen across the country. And when asked, many voters told me their main focus at the polling station would be on national issues.

"If there was a strong local issue, that would override national but at the minute but there's not a strong local issue for me, so I'll go with the national trend," one voter in Chester said.

Cheshire East Council has been run as a coalition since 2019

Meanwhile, over in Cheshire East, a lot has changed in the local authority's relatively young life.

This council - and its counterpart on the other side of the county - were only formed in 2009. So, if it was a person it wouldn't even be old enough to vote.

For its first decade, Cheshire East was a flagship Tory council.

That all changed in 2019 when the Conservatives lost seven seats and with it their majority, mostly to independent candidates.

Since then, it's been run as a coalition between the second biggest party - Labour - and the Independent Group.

The council is made up of 82 councillors covering 52 wards.

Currently, the Conservatives hold 30 seats while Labour have 24 and their coalition partners the Independent Group have 17.

There are also four Liberal Democrats and four non-grouped councillors.

This time around, the Conservatives have put forward the most candidates - 81 across the borough. Meanwhile, Labour have 60 candidates. The third biggest is independents, with 44 standing.

The Lib Dems have put forward 30 candidates, while the Greens - who have had no councillors on Cheshire East - have put forward slightly more candidates, 34 of them.

Smaller parties are fielding five candidates.

Vote counts are taking place at Crewe Lifestyle Centre, Macclesfield Leisure Centre and Ellesmere Port Sports Village

So while the Conservatives are contesting every seat, Labour have chosen not to.

Seats in the "Golden Triangle" area of Alderley Edge, Prestbury and Wilmslow do not have Labour candidates.

This is similar to last time, where Labour fielded just one candidate out of the seats available across Wilmslow's four wards. They say they're targeting resources where they think they have a more realistic chance of winning.

The key to this election will more likely than not be independent candidates. Currently there are 17 grouped independents and four "independent independents", as it were.

Many of them are standing as a group or part of a hyper-local party.

Rise of independents?

One independent councillor I spoke to said they believed people were turning to independents because they're "fed up with party politics".

This is not just the case here in Cheshire East of course; the Local Government Association says there are about 2,300 independent councillors in England and Wales - 13% of the total.

Compare that to the UK's third largest political party, the Lib Dems, who make up 14.3% of all councillors nationally.

So independents are definitely a force to be reckoned with. Hyper-local and non-party affiliated councillors could make a big impact here in Cheshire, and not for the first time.

In terms of key issues, those out knocking on doors have told me they were hearing about things such as the cost of living, potholes, housing development, HS2 and the closure of Congleton's tip.

But will it be those local issues, or the national picture, that ultimately matters more when voters hover their pencil over the candidates' names on the ballot paper/

Stay tuned to find out!