Background

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council was created in 1974. The Conservatives saw early success, controlling the council as a majority from its creation until 1983. ^[11] 1988 saw the what was then the SLD become the largest party; since then council control has been contested between the Liberal Democrats and Labour. ^[12] The Liberal Democrats formed their first majority administration in 1999 after a decade of no overall control, which lasted until 2011. The first Labour-led administration was formed in 2016 as a minority. ^[13] The Liberal Democrats again became the largest group in 2021, but it was not until 2022 that they formed a minority administration. ^{[14] [15]}

A new set of ward boundaries was used for the 2023 election. As such, this election will be for the councillors elected with the second highest number of votes in each of the 21 three-member wards. ^[16] The Liberal Democrats will be defending 11 seats, Labour will be defending 7, and the Greens, Heald Green Ratepayers, and Edgeley Community Association will be defending 1 each.

Election result