| Election Name: | 2023 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election |
| Country: | Yorkshire |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Election Date: | 4 May 2023 |
| Previous Election: | 2022 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2022 |
| Next Election: | 2024 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election |
| Next Year: | 2024 |
| Seats For Election: | 21 of 63 seats on Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council |
| Majority Seats: | 32 |
| Turnout: | 24.7% |
| Leader1: | Stephen Houghton |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Last Election1: | 46 seats, 46.2% |
| Seats Before1: | 46 |
| Seats1: | 15 |
| Seats After1: | 48 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Popular Vote1: | 20,932 |
| Percentage1: | 46.1% |
| Swing1: | 0.1% |
| Leader2: | Hannah Kitching |
| Party2: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Last Election2: | 9 seats, 16.3% |
| Seats Before2: | 9 |
| Seats2: | 4 |
| Seats After2: | 10 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 7,926 |
| Percentage2: | 17.5% |
| Swing2: | 1.2% |
| Leader3: | None |
| Party3: | Independent (politician) |
| Last Election3: | 3 seats, 3.8% |
| Seats Before3: | 3 |
| Seats3: | 2 |
| Seats After3: | 2 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 4,853 |
| Percentage3: | 10.7% |
| Swing3: | 6.9% |
| Leader4: | John Wilson |
| Party4: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Last Election4: | 4 seats, 19.4% |
| Seats Before4: | 3 |
| Seats4: | 0 |
| Seats After4: | 2 |
| Seat Change4: | 1 |
| Popular Vote4: | 6,456 |
| Percentage4: | 14.2% |
| Swing4: | 5.2% |
| Leader5: | David White |
| Party5: | Reform UK |
| Last Election5: | Did not stand |
| Seats Before5: | 1 |
| Seats5: | 0 |
| Seats After5: | 1 |
| Popular Vote5: | 1,322 |
| Percentage5: | 2.9% |
| Swing5: | N/A |
| Leader6: | Andrew Gillis |
| Party6: | Barnsley Independent Group |
| Last Election6: | 1 seat, 6.5% |
| Seats Before6: | 1 |
| Seats6: | 0 |
| Seats After6: | 0 |
| Seat Change6: | 1 |
| Popular Vote6: | 0 |
| Percentage6: | 0.0% |
| Swing6: | 6.5% |
| Posttitle: | Leader after election |
| Before Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Before Election: | Stephen Houghton |
| Leader | |
| After Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
| After Election: | Stephen Houghton |
Elections to Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council took place on 4 May 2023 alongside other elections in the United Kingdom.[1] One third of the council was up for election.[2]
The Labour Party have controlled the council since 1973. In May 2021, Labour retained control but the council was criticised for not counting over 1,000 postal votes.[3] In May 2022, Labour retained overall control of the council, but lost three seats.[4] In December 2022, Conservative councillor for Rockingham ward David White defected to Reform UK.[5] [6]
| After 2022 election | Before 2023 election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | Party | Seats | ||
| 46 | 45 | ||||
| 9 | 9 | ||||
| 4 | 3 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||
| 1 | |||||
| 1 | |||||
The Barnsley Independent Group did not stand in this election and lost its sole seat on the council.
On 11 April 2023, the full list of candidates was published.[7]