2023 North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council election

The 2023 North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council elections were held on 4 May 2023 alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. One third of the seats on the council were contested at this election. Labour retained its majority on the council.

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. North Tyneside was a district of the Tyne and Wear metropolitan county. The Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan counties, with metropolitan districts taking on most of their powers as metropolitan boroughs. The North of Tyne Combined Authority was created in 2018 and began electing the mayor of the North of Tyne from 2019, which was given strategic powers covering a region covering some of the same area as the former Tyne and Wear metropolitan county, as well as Northumberland.

Since its creation, North Tyneside has generally been under Labour control, with some periods of no overall control and Conservative Party control from 2008 to 2010. Labour has had an overall majority of seats on the council since the 2011 election, when the party gained seats. In the most recent council election in 2022, Labour won eighteen seats with 54.9% of the vote to hold 51 overall, while the Conservatives won two seats with 28.9% of the vote to hold nine seats overall. Most recently, Norma Redfearn has been the Labour mayor of North Tyneside since 2013, and she was last re-elected in 2021.

The positions up for election in 2023 were last elected in 2019. In that election, Labour won seventeen seats on 49.1% of the vote while the Conservatives won three seats with 27.1% of the vote. UKIP received 16.7% of the vote but didn't win any seats.

Electoral process
The council elects its councillors in thirds, with a third being up for election every year for three years, with no election in the fourth year. The election will take place by first-past-the-post voting, with all wards being represented by three councillors, one of whom is elected each election year to serve a four-year term.

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in North Tyneside aged 18 or over will be entitled to vote in the election. People who live at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, are entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities. Voting in-person at polling stations will take place from 07:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters will be able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.

As a result of the Elections Act 2022 electors will, for the first time, be required to present photo ID in order to cast their vote at the polling station.