2023 Derbyshire Dales District Council election

The 2023 Derbyshire Dales District Council election was held on 4 May 2023 to elect all 34 councillors for Derbyshire Dales District Council. This was on the same day as other local elections.

For the first time since 1995, the Conservative Party failed to win a majority of seats. Instead, the Liberal Democrats won the largest number of seats, beating the Conservatives by one seat, the same margin as in 1995, but again failing to win a majority of their own.

This was the first election to the Derbyshire Dales District Council to be held under the current ward boundaries. The total number of councillors was reduced from 39 to 34, and the total number of wards was reduced from 25 to 21. Consequently, the boundaries of most of the wards were different compared to those which had been in use since the 2003 election. The arrangements for each new ward are described below.

Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, with the majority held by the Conservatives following the 2019 election having been lost through defections and resignations. Less than two months before the election the Conservative leader, Garry Purdy, who had led the council since 2019, was suspended and then resigned over private promises made to a local tourist attraction. Susan Hobson took over as Conservative leader and became acting leader of the council, with formal appointment of a new leader of the council deferred until after the election. Immediately before the election the council was being run by a coalition comprising the Conservatives, the SDP councillor and three of the independent councillors.

A "progressive alliance" coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Greens subsequently formed to take control of the council, with Liberal Democrat group leader Steve Flitter being appointed leader of the council at the annual council meeting on 25 May 2023.

Ward results
In the instance in which the boundaries of a ward are identical to those in the 2019 election, the percentage changes have been calculated relative to the results in that ward from 2019. In the instance in which a ward is broadly coterminous with a previous ward or has only been slightly expanded, the percentage change is calculated in the same way from the corresponding ward in 2019, but in these instances this value is only indicative and some changes to party political support will be a result of the boundary changes. The results in each ward were as follows:

Ashbourne North
Ashbourne North was still represented by two councillors and was slightly expanded.

Ashbourne South
Ashbourne South was now represented by three councillors instead of two and was expanded.

Bakewell
Bakewell was now represented by two councillors instead of three but remained geographically the same.

Bonsall and Winster
Bonsall and Winster was a new ward which was to be represented by one councillor. It was broadly coterminous with the old ward of Winster and South Darley, which was also represented by one councillor.

Bradwell
Bradwell was still represented by one councillor and was slightly expanded.

Brailsford
Brailsford was still represented by one councillor and was geographically the same.

Calver and Longstone
Calver and Longstone was a new ward which is to be represented by one councillor. It was predominantly formed of parishes from the old wards of Calver, and Litton and Longstone.

Chatsworth
Chatsworth was still represented by one councillor and was slightly expanded.

Cromford and Matlock Bath
Cromford and Matlock Bath was a new ward which is to be represented by one councillor. It was predominantly formed of parishes from the old ward of Masson.

Darley Dale
Darley Dale was still represented by three councillors and was slightly expanded.

Dovedale, Parwich and Brassington
Dovedale, Parwich and Brassington was a new ward which was to be represented by one councillor. It was broadly coterminous with the old ward of Dovedale and Parwich, which was also represented by one councillor.

Doveridge and Sudbury
Doveridge and Sudbury was still represented by one councillor and was geographically the same.

Hartington and Taddington
Hartington and Taddington was still represented by one councillor and was slightly expanded.

Hathersage
Hathersage was a new ward which was to be represented by two councillors. It is broadly coterminous with the old ward of Hathersage and Eyam, which was also represented by two councillors.

Hulland
Hulland was still represented by one councillor and was slightly redrawn.

Matlock East and Tansley
Matlock East and Tansley was a new ward which was to be represented by three councillors. It was broadly coterminous with the old ward of Matlock St. Giles, which was also represented by three councillors.

Matlock West
Matlock West was a new ward which was to be represented by three councillors. It was broadly coterminous with the old ward of Matlock All Saints, which was also represented by three councillors.

Norbury
Norbury was still represented by one councillor and was slightly expanded.

Tideswell
Tideswell was still represented by one councillor and was slightly expanded.

Wirksworth
Wirksworth was still represented by three councillors and was slightly expanded.

Youlgrave
Youlgrave was a new ward which was to be represented by one councillor. It was broadly coterminous with the old ward of Lathkill and Bradford, which was also represented by one councillor.