The council was under no overall control prior to the election, being led by a Liberal Democrat minority administration. The council remained under no overall control after the election, but the Liberal Democrats increased their share of the seats.[2][3]
Background
Stockport began as a Conservative council, with Conservative majorities from 1975 to 1982. The Liberal Democrats (Liberal Party from 1973 to 1988) overtook the Conservatives in 1992, and formed their first administration in 1999, before another period of no overall control from 2000 to 2002 with the second Liberal Democrat majority lasting until 2011.[4] A Labour minority administration replaced the Liberal Democrats in 2016, and survived until 2022, when the Lib Dems increased their lead over the Labour Party and were able to take control of the authority.[5]
In November 2022 the Local Government Boundary Commission for England made The Stockport (Electoral Changes) Order 2022, which officially abolished the 21 existing wards and replaced them with 21 new wards on different boundaries. Because of this change all 63 seats on the council, three per ward, were contested.[6]
Electoral process
The election took place using the plurality block voting system, a form of first-past-the-post voting, with each ward being represented by three councillors. The candidate with the most votes in each ward will serve a four year term ending in 2027, the second-placed candidate will serve a three year term anding in 2026 and the third-placed candidate will serve a one year term ending in 2024.[6]
All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in Stockport aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the election. People who lived at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, were entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities. Voting in-person at polling stations took place from 07:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters were able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.
