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Cambridge City Council

Elections in 2023

Elections were held on 4 May 2023 for 16 of the 42 seats on Cambridge City Council.

Each of the city’s 14 wards elected one councillor, and there were by-elections in Castle and Coleridge. Another by-election was held for the Arbury division of the county council.

Scroll down to see the results of the May elections and statistics for the new voter ID process.

King’s Hedges ward by-election on 4 July

A vacancy has occurred for a city councillor in King’s Hedges ward, following a resignation. A by-election will take place on Tuesday 4 July 2023.

Polling stations will be different for the by-election to those used for the elections in May. Find your polling station and find out what happens when you vote in person.

Important dates

  • 31 May to 7 June: Submission of candidate nomination forms  – contact us for further information
  • Friday 16 June, 11.59pm: Deadline to apply to register to vote
  • Monday 19 June, 5pm: Deadline to apply for a postal vote, or change an existing postal or proxy vote
  • Monday 26 June, 5pm: Deadline to apply for a voter authority certificate (free voter ID) or a proxy vote

Elections on 4 May

Elections were held on Thursday 4 May 2023 for 14 of the 42 seats on Cambridge City Council. Every ward elected one councillor to represent them for the next four years.

By-elections were also held in Castle and Coleridge – two councillors were elected in these wards. And an election was held for a county councillor for the Arbury division.

At these elections, you needed to provide photographic identification before you could vote at a polling station. Read our voter ID page to learn more.

Voter ID statistics

A total of 89,574 electors were registered to vote on 4 May, of whom 75,546 were eligible to vote in a polling station. 13,865 people voted by post and 163 voted by proxy.

Information that can be released on the new voter ID process in polling stations is as follows:

  • Electors who applied for a ballot paper but were refused because they had no ID or the wrong type of ID: 302 (100%)
  • Number of those electors who later returned with correct ID and were able to vote: 176 (58.3%)
  • Number of electors who did not return, and so were unable to vote: 126 (41.7%)

Official notices

Official election notices will be available here as they are published.

Eligibility to vote

You could vote at these elections if you are:

  • a British, Irish, qualifying commonwealth or a European Union citizen
  • registered to vote in Cambridge
  • aged 18 or over on the day of the elections

All EU citizens could vote at these elections, even though the UK has left the EU.

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