Local elections 2023: Resident’s group breaks record in Henley Town Council elections

Henley Residents’ Group has won the Henley town elections by a landslide with a record-breaking number of seats.

Following the polls yesterday (Thursday), a total of 13 HRG candidates were elected, while the opposition Conservatives won just two seats, going to Laurence Plant and Gavin Jackson.

The remaining seat went to independent candidate Dave Eggleton.

This beats HRG’s previous record in 2019, when 12 of its candidates were elected, with the remaining seats being taken up by three Conservatives and one Independent candidate.

HRG candidates Kellie Hinton, Ken Arlett and Stefan Gawrysiak also retained all three of their Henley ward seats on South Oxfordshire District Council.

In the South ward, Conservative candidate Will Hamilton, who stepped down this year, was replaced by HRG candidate Ian Reissmann. 

Councillor Gill Dodds, who founded HRG, was elected back to the council this year after a 12-year break. The former mayor said: “I think it’s a landslide. When we went round the town, we got so much support. People just know that what we say we will do, we do. 

“People say they will vote for us but you never know on the day quite how it is going to pan out. We were working out that we have run the town for most of the last 32 years. Now, there can’t be many political parties that have actually lasted that long uninterrupted in the running of the town and we have done so many wonderful, good things and people know that and they trust us.”

Councillor Hinton, who was re-elected on South ward, said the victory was a result of the local focus of the party. She said: “It’s a fantastic result. Seven councillors being elected is what we wanted to achieve so I am absolutely thrilled. 

“I am really pleased to see a clear indication of what the people of Henley want. They very clearly voted for the Henley Residents’ Group, so that’s another thing that I think is fantastic. 

“It wasn’t even close to being a split vote and I am also really pleased that Councillor Laurence Plant has been re-elected because we work really well with him and I really wanted to see him retain his seat.”

She joked: “And Stefan didn’t stand in the South so I topped the poll. When he’s around, you don’t top anything!”

Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak, who was elected in the North ward, said: “We are Henley residents just doing right by Henley. It is a democratic process so we really thank the residents of Henley for putting their faith and trust in us. 

“In the North, we’ve got a brilliant bunch of new candidates that have joined us and we are pleased they will be on the town council because they will bring fresh ideas and it will almost be like a renewal of the group and that’s something I really look forward to.”

He added: “Isn’t it brilliant that Gill Dodds has come back?”

Town Council election results in full:

Henley South ward

Elected: Kellie Hinton (HRG) 1,121 (11.76%); Sarah Miller (HRG) 1,105 (11.59%); Michelle Thomas (HRG) 1,074 (11.27%); Ian Reissmann (HRG) 1,040 (10.91%); Glen Lambert (HRG) 1,028 (10.79%); Tony Hoskins (HRG) 956 (10.03%); Rob Romans (HRG) 906 (9.51%); Laurence Plant (Conservative) 578 (6.06%).

Not elected: Dave Adkins (Conservative) 526 (5.52%); Lorna Dunlop (Conservative) 409 (4.29%); Ian Clark (Conservative) 402 (4.22%); Hugh Legh (Conservative) 386 (4.05%).

Henley North ward

Elected: Stefan Gawrysiak (HRG) 1,107 (11.79%); Gill Dodds (HRG) 988 (10.52%); Tom Buckley (HRG) 869 (9.25%); Rory Hunt (HRG) 832 (8.86%); Sara Kandiah (HRG) 826 (8.79%); Simon Paine (HRG) 810 (8.62%); Dave Eggleton (Independent) 766 (8.16%); Gavin Jackson (Conservative) 504 (5.37%). 

Not elected: Louise Hastings (Conservative) 477 (5.08%); Chester Dalrymple (Conservative) 465 (4.95%); Tracy Scott (Conservative) 464 (4.94%); Sarah Furness (Conservative) 454 (4.83%); Milton Levy (Conservative) 436 (4.64%); Pauline Vahey (Conservative) 394 (4.2%).