AS IT HAPPENED: Local elections in Windsor and Maidenhead 2023

Welcome to our coverage of the local election count for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

All 41 seats in 19 wards are up for grabs and we'll be providing live updates throughout the night, including results as they come in and reaction from candidates.

Your team tonight is David Lee, James Preston, Jade Kidd and Ian Longthorne.

7.36am:

Right, we're off to bed.

Here's a full list of results.

And click here for reaction to a dramatic night.

7.19am:

Final ward declared:

ASCOT & SUNNINGHILL

Lilly Evans, Lib Dem - 979
John Gripton, Lab - 472
Sanjay Karia, Lib Dem - 877
Rosemary Magill, Green - 423
Asghar Majeed, Con - 993
Jonathan Pope, Lib Dem - 940
Julian Sharpe, Con - 1,257
John Story, Con -1,254

7.16am:

Lib Dems - 22

TBFI - 7

Conservatives - 4

WWRA - 2

OWRA -2

NFPP - 1

7.13am:

LIB DEM MAJORITY

RIVERSIDE
 
Richard Coe, Lib Dem - 1,527
Jake Collingwood, Reform - 123
Sohaib Khan, Con - 776
Kashmir Singh, Lib Dem - 1,622
Nigel Smith, Lab - 178
Toni Tucker, Con - 622

7am:

Mandy Brar says she’s ‘ecstatic’ to have been re-elected in the Bisham & Cookham ward. #LocalElections2023 pic.twitter.com/ytni9Um6bp

— Jade Kidd (@JadeK_BM) May 5, 2023

6.57am:

Long-serving Conservative councillor Leo Walter is re-elected, while Bray also has a new independent councillor.

Lib Dems - 20

TBFI - 7

Conservatives - 4

WWRA - 2

OWRA -2

NFPP - 1

6.54am:

BRAY

Bruce Adams, Lib Dem - 317
Glynis Crane, TBFI - 726
Suzanne Cross, TBFI - 907
Timothy Martin, Lib Dem - 262
Leo Walters, Con - 746
Robert White, Lab - 175
Derek Wilson, Con - 691

6.36am:

Lib Dems now one away from a majority.

Lib Dems - 20

Conservatives - 3

TBFI - 6

WWRA - 2

OWRA -2

NFPP - 1

6.34am:

COX GREEN

Simon Beer, Green - 84
Phil Haseler, Con - 678
Robert Horner, Lab - 129
John Lupton, Lab - 85
Chris Moriarty, Lib Dem - 1,677
Gary Reeves, Lib Dem - 1,597
Sunil Sharma, Con - 452

6.30am:

PINKNEYS GREEN

Clive Baskerville, Lib Dem - 1,832
Jane Collisson, Lab - 176
Martyn Cook, Con - 355
Joseph Freeman, Lab - 162
Bern Guly, Con - 310
Simon Werner, Lib Dem - 1,819

6.21am:

It's been a good night for The Borough First Independents, who have now doubled their number of seats to six.

A lot of people expected the Conservatives would struggle tonight, and they have been largely wiped out so far.

To remind you:

Lib Dems - 16

Conservatives - 3

TBFI - 6

WWRA - 2

OWRA -2

NFPP - 1

6.18am:

DATCHET, HORTON & WRAYSBURY

Patrick Barr, Con - 638
Dan Boresjo, Lib Dem - 241
David Buckley, TBFI - 1,071
Jodie Grove, TBFI - 953
Ewan Larcombe, NFPP - 1,099
Margaret Lenton, Con - 748
Zsofia Macho, Green - 278
Joshua Trood, Lib Dem - 195
Amit Verma, Con - 589
Jenny Ward, Lab - 394
Peter Ward, Lab -289

6.11am:

27 seats sorted, 14 to go.

6.07am:

TBFI candidates Helen Taylor and Geoff Hill are ‘absolutely delighted’ to have been elected. #LocalElections2023 pic.twitter.com/49wKDMmOm8

— Jade Kidd (@JadeK_BM) May 5, 2023

6.05am:

As it stands:

Lib Dems - 16

Conservatives - 3

TBFI - 4

WWRA - 2

OWRA -2

6.02am:

ETON & CASTLE

Penelope Banham, Con - 869
Michael Boyle, Green - 416
Devon Davies, Lib Dem - 1,686
Liam Harrison, Green - 310
Murtaza Khan, Lab - 229
Rick Ludovici, Lab - 285
Samantha Rayner, Con - 902
Shamsul Shelim, Con - 670
Julian Tisi, Lib Dem - 1,701
Mark Wilson, Lib Dem - 1,667

5.49am:

As things stands:

Lib Dems - 13

Conservatives - 3

TBFI - 4

WWRA - 2

OWRA -2

By my maths, this means the Conservatives have officially lost control of the council.

5.46am:

BISHAM & COOKHAM

Mandy Brar, Lib Dem - 2,101
Gerry Clark, Con - 526
Georgina Grouse, Lab - 94
Mark Howard, Lib Dem - 1,887
Mel Stack, Lab - 65
Tom Weiss, Con - 375

5.42am:

CLEWER & DEDWORTH WEST

Malcolm Alexander, Ind - 424
Carole Da Costa, WWRA - 778
Wisdom Da Costa, WWRA - 759
Jon Davey, Ind - 418
Deborah Foster, Lab - 212
Ian Haggart, Con - 299
Lars Swann, Con - 244
Edward Wilson, Ind - 649

5.35am:

It seems like a few of your are waking up.

In summary, not a lot happened for about six hours, and then a lot happened in about half an hour.

5.28am:

The ousted @RBWM leader gives his sombre reflection on a brutal night for the @Conservatives in Windsor and Maidenhead. pic.twitter.com/04r8rHO1jz

— David Lee (@DavidLee_BM) May 5, 2023

5.26am:

That result officially confirms the Lib Dems have increased their number of councillors - now standing at 11.

5.21am:

FURZE PLATT

George Blair, Lab - 170
Catherine Del Campo, Lib Dem - 1,582
Tom Easten, Ind - 107
Clive Lattimer, Lab - 141
Joshua Reynolds, Lib Dem - 1,457
Hari Sharma, Con - 577
Josh Wallace, Con - 534

5.17am:

A moment to catch our breath. We now have 18 out of 41 seats decided. 

Lib Dems - 9

Cons - 3

TBFI -4

OWRA -2 

Furze Platt now...

5.09am:

CLEWER & DEDWORTH EAST

Hashim Bhatti, Con - 286
Phillip Bicknell, Con - 371
Alison Carpenter, TBFI - 945
Richard Margison, Ind - 169
Helen Price, TBFI - 1,160
David Sanders, Lab - 247

5.06am:

So far:

Lib Dems - 9

Cons - 3

TBFI -2

OWRA -2 

5.05am:

BOYN HILL

Marios Alexandrou, Lab - 195
Adam Bermange, Lib Dem - 1,466
Gurpreet Bhangra, Con - 636
Anuj Khanna, Con - 580
Pat McDonald, Lab - 165
George Shaw, Lib Dem -1,383

5.01am:

So far:

Lib Dems - 7

Cons - 3

TBFI -2

OWRA -2 

5am:

OLD WINDSOR

Peter Auger, Con - 274
Colin Blackwell, Con - 250
Lynne Jones, OWRA - 1,419
Neil Knowles, OWRA - 1,224
Roy Reeves, Lab - 254

4.58am:

Old Windsor now.

4.56am:

OLDFIELD

Louise Fairlie, Lab - 307
Seema Goyal, Con - 731
Geoffrey Hill, TBFI - 992
Jade Jones, Con - 543
Helen Taylor, TBFI - 1,015

4.53am:

The results so far have reflected the mood in the room since the night began. Lib Dem leader Simon Werner has been pretty confident since the start.

4.51am:

Councillors so far:

Lib Dems - 7

Conservatives - 3

4.50am:

BELMONT
 
Simon Bond, Lib Dem - 1,641
Mohammed Ilyas, Con - 502
Patricia Lattimer, Lab - 245
Sian Martin, Lib Dem - 1,585
William Scawn, Con - 494

4.46am:

That's two more Lib Dems elected, taking their total councillors to five. Belmont next.

4.45am:

ST MARY’S

Jack Douglas, Lib Dem - 1,199
Keith Nicholas, Lab - 290
Gurch Singh, Lib Dem - 1,123
Donna Stimson, Con - 476
Hillary Su, Con -387

4.43am:

St Mary's next....

4.38am:

Results are coming in quickly now.

Elected councillors as it stands:

Conservative - 3

Lib Dem - 3

4.36am:

CLEWER EAST
 
Karen Davies, Lib Dem - 1,469
Nicola Pryer, Con - 402
Kaumil Shah, Con - 336
Amy Tisi, Lib Dem - 1,468

4.31am:

SUNNINGDALE & CHEAPSIDE
 
Carolyn Fallon, Lib Dem - 244
Genevieve Gosling, Con - 698
Nigel Hayward, Lab - 170
Julia Mariano, Lib Dem - 218
Sayonara Luxton, Con - 736
Matt Newman, TBFI - 489
Valerie Pike, TBFI - 574

Clewer East next

4.24am:

Only the first of 19 wards to be declared, but already huge news at this election count.

4.21:

Lib Dem George Blundell is elected, while Conservative Maureen Hunt retains her seat.

HURLEY & WALTHAMS
 
George Blundell, Lib Dem -782
Rob Castell, Lib Dem -664
Maureen Hunt, Con -765
Andrew Johnson, Con - 643
Tim Langley, Lab - 72
Sally Lupton, Lab- 94
Craig McDermott, Green -131

4.20am:

Andrew Johnson has lost his seat.

4.17am:

We're getting an announcement! Hurley and the Walthams first.

3.58am:

Rosettes? We've got a few.

3.31am:

I'm beginning to wonder whether they booked the sports hall for long enough. We could end up ruining someone's morning game of badminton.

3.14am:

Still nothing for you I'm afraid.

They are checking doubtful ballots for some wards so we may not be far off.

2.52am:

We're still waiting for some declarations. In the meantime, here are some pictures from Ian Longthorne.

2.35am:

Must say there's some lovely accessorising to go with the party colours in here. Red T-shirts, yellow scarves, blue jackets....

2.30am:

To those of you who've stayed with us until now - and there are a few of you - you're the absolute best.

2.23am:

“I’ve got things locally that I’d like to do but it’s ultimately not down to me, it’s down to the 41 round that table to agree what we’re going to do on a mass” - candidate @CllrJonDavey #LocalElection2023 pic.twitter.com/E8gNCGM67a

— Jade Kidd (@JadeK_BM) May 5, 2023

2.18am:

*TURNOUT KLAXON*

The overall turnout is remarkably close to what it was in 2019.

The turnout was 37.71%, compared to 37.74% in 2019.

A total of 41,476 voted, out of an electorate of 109,987.

2.12am:

We have been informed verification is now complete and we're on to the counting.

Meanwhile, breakfast options are the talk of the press pen.

Hit the 2am mark and still no results announced. Hopes of a 5am finish evaporating fast. Dreams of being first in line for a Greggs bacon roll alive and kicking.

— David Lee (@DavidLee_BM) May 5, 2023

1.58am:

What time does the Tea Pot open for breakfast?

1.55am:

The first ward announcement is now later than it was in 2019.

This could be a late one...

1.33am:

Oldfield Conservative candidate Seema Goyal is standing for the first time and is hoping to make a difference if she’s elected #LocalElections2023 pic.twitter.com/EGwSXmw3bt

— Jade Kidd (@JadeK_BM) May 5, 2023

1.29am:

Hold up, a load of people just entered the room (after a mass exodus for a coffee break).

Looks like we will get some movement on something reasonably soon.

1.07am:

By the way, you can also keep up-to-date with the latest election news on our Instagram page.

I've even heard talk of a TikTok surfacing at some point.

12.57am:

If you need a reminder of everyone who is standing, you can find it here.

12.56am:

As we (hopefully) move closer to the business end of the night, we'll be using a few abbreviations for the various parties and groups.

There are as follows:

Con – Conservative, TBFI – The Borough First Independents, Lab – Labour, Lib Dem – Liberal Democrats, Green Party – Green, OWRA – Old Windsor Residents Association, WWRA – West Windsor Residents Association, Ind – Independent NFPP – National Flood Prevention Party, Reform – Reform UK

12.53am:

Ed Wilson was a Conservative councillor up until 2019, but now represents Windsor First – a group of three independent candidates looking to...well...put Windsor first.

He said: “I think the current Conservative administration are going to get a really bloody nose tonight.

“The residents of RBWM are absolutely fed up with them. They have gone away from a traditional Conservative agenda of keeping council tax low and providing good services, they’ve done neither.

“They’ve continued to put council tax up which has really annoyed their core vote.

“Some of the services have been absolutely appalling.

“I think Andrew Johnson will need to consider his position depending on how bad the result is for them.

“More fundamentally the Conservatives locally will need to rethink what it is they’re bringing to the Royal Borough and what they stand for.

“Is it low taxes? Is it high taxes and putting up taxes irrespective of whether they’re operating a surplus?

“I think there is generally too much politics in this council and not enough collegiate working.

“Residents have some real issues with this council on the way they operate some of its contracts on cemeteries and waste collection.

“They really need to get a grip of that, for the sake of the residents.

“If we can put the politics aside for a bit and work together it should be a good thing for the Royal Borough.”

12.50am:

We are in a bit of a lull period, I'm not going to lie.

The salt and vinegar Pringles are open.

12.23am:

Lynne Jones, leader of the local independents, has been speaking to Jade Kidd.

“[My plans are] to carry on doing what I’m doing for my ward, that’s really important to me.” - OWRA candidate Lynne Jones on her plans if re-elected. pic.twitter.com/FqznCxr9iI

— Jade Kidd (@JadeK_BM) May 4, 2023

12.20am:

Our snapper Ian Longthorne will be capturing pictures throughout the night.

Here are Conservatives Andrew Johnson and Samantha Rayner.

12.12am:

*BALLOT BOX PICTURE KLAXON*

Ready-made stock pictures for the next time we cover an election...

12.09am:

Councillor Simon Werner said: “I’m quietly confident that we’re going to do really well. Residents have responded really well to the messages we’ve put out about sorting out the finances, climate change, biodiversity and basic things like cleaning the streets.

“It’s about putting the council back at the heart of the community and residents really liked that positive message. “Maidenhead is a wonderful place, it has fantastic schools, beautiful countryside, fantastic transport links and it has this town centre at the heart of it which doesn’t live up to the expectation of such an affluent town as Maidenhead.

“Building 18-storey tower blocks is not a solution, it’s not regeneration.

“I think there’s a lot of things we won’t be able to reverse because the 18-storey tower blocks have already been built.

“We need to go through all the contracts the Conservatives have signed in secret to find out what leverage we have to try and improve some of these schemes.

“For me, it’s not really relevant whether we have enough councillors to take control or whether we work with other parties. “I think people are looking for a more open and inclusive kind of politics which doesn’t set one side against another but has everyone working together to improve the borough.

“That’s very much the approach I will take.”

12.07am:

If you voted in your local parish council election, or in the Datchet Neighbourhood Plan referendum, you've got a little bit longer to wait for results.

The counts for contested parish councils, along with the votes cast in the Datchet Neighbourhood Plan Local Referendum, will take place tomorrow afternoon.
Votes cast in the borough elections will be counted first, this evening. pic.twitter.com/E445LypmZd

— RBWM (@RBWM) May 4, 2023

11.56pm:

We've also spoken to Lynne Jones, leader of the local independents and Old Windsor Residents' Association candidate.

Her thoughts shortly.

11.52pm:

Lib Dem leader Simon Werner is in good spirits.

Liberal Democrat candidate Simon Werner is feeling positive ahead of the results #LocalElection2023 pic.twitter.com/N9XpgSpu2j

— Jade Kidd (@JadeK_BM) May 4, 2023

11.39pm:

By the way, there's plenty of intrigue in neighbouring authorities, where local elections have also taken place today.

Slough is holding its first all out elections after previously doing theirs in thirds.

The count, however, is taking place during the day. We won't know the results until tomorrow afternoon.

11.31pm:

Cllr Andrew Johnson's thoughts (in writing).

He said: “This is clearly a challenging time for the governing party. We remain confident that our core messages, our 10-point plan, our principles of cracking down on crime, lower taxes, cleaner streets and protecting the environment will have found strong cut through with residents.

“Even if we’re not successful tonight we remain confident a lot of that agenda will be taken forward.

“We’ve clearly gone through a very challenging period for local government. We’ve had COVID, we’ve had an era of relatively high inflation.

“We’d like to think this election has been fought on local issues, on our record as the governing party and our positive vision for the future but let’s see what the electorate has to say over the course of the next few hours.

“I think housing will be a major issue but it’s got to be kept in kind for some it’s a negative issue, for some it’s a positive issue.

“You look at our recent residents’ survey from last year, a significant majority of those aged under 45 were in favour of more housing, it’s a very high cost housing area.

“But we get the message about too many flats, overdevelopment, the favouring of brownfield sites over greenfield sites.

“Lets see what the electorate has to say tonight.”

11.26pm:

For those eagerly awaiting ballot box news (and who isn't, frankly?), the first one arrived at 10.10pm and came from the Belmont ward.

Well done team Belmont!

11.22pm:

Here's the thoughts of Conservative group leader Andrew Johnson.

Just spoken to council leader @andyj1979 he’s acknowledged it’s a ‘challenging’ time for the Conservative Party but insists the party has delivered on residents’ priorities locally. pic.twitter.com/I8uhlxdHQd

— David Lee (@DavidLee_BM) May 4, 2023

11.19pm:

By the way, new council chief executive Stephen Evans, who took over last month, is here in his role as returning officer.

In short, he's running the show, and making sure everything proceeds how it should.

11.12pm:

Some of the councillors are beginning to talk to the team. We'll have the thoughts of Conservative group leader Andrew Johnson very shortly...

11.06pm:

OK, for those who need a reminder of the situation before today's vote.

The Conservatives are looking to defend their slim majority - they had 22 councillors (and need 21 for a majority).

The Lib Dems will be looking to make gains on their current group of nine councillors, while there were nine independent councillors before today (three from The Borough First Independents, two from Old Windsor Residents' Association, two from West Windsor Residents' Association, one from the National Flood Prevention Party and one other independent).

There was one already vacant seat going into the election, following the resignation of Lib Dem John Baldwin.

10.50pm:

It feels weird to be in (somewhat shinier) Braywick Leisure Centre rather than the Magnet, which was home to election counts for many years.

The main advantage so far...the power sockets aren't three metres off the ground.

10.47pm:

Here at Braywick Leisure Centre for a long night of #LocalElection2023 with @MaidenheadAds Next few hours notoriously tricky for filling content but we’ll give it a go! pic.twitter.com/QOrgZMLy8P

— David Lee (@DavidLee_BM) May 4, 2023

10.44pm:

And what about timings?

Well, in 2019, the first results came in just before 2am and the final ward was announced at...wait for it... 6.20am.

Luckily the coffee shop is open.

10.41pm:

A few numbers for you.... overall turnout in 2019 was 37.74%.

We won't know for a while how 2023 compares.

10.33pm: The rosettes are already out in force as the parties begin to arrive in the Braywick Leisure Centre sports hall.

10.25pm:

While we get settled in, here's some dogs at polling stations from earlier today.

10.23pm:

We'll be aiming to speak to the candidates for their thoughts while we wait for the results to come in.

10.21pm:

We're expecting the first ballot boxes very shortly, which will be followed by a verification process.

The first declarations for the wards are not expected until after 1am.

10.07pm: The polls are closed and now the long wait starts.

Royal Borough voters have had their say and by the early hours of tomorrow morning (or at least by the time most of our readers wake up) we will know the make-up of the council.

The Advertiser and Express team will at the count at Braywick Leisure Centre throughout the night, bringing you live updates of all the action as it happens.

If you'd rather get some sleep, we'll have have all the news for you first thing in the morning.