2023 Mid Devon District Council election
2023 English local election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2023 Mid Devon District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Mid Devon District Council in Devon, England.[2][3] It was held on the same day as other local elections in the United Kingdom.
4 May 2023
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All 42 seats to Mid Devon District Council 22 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Winner of each seat at the 2023 Mid Devon District Council election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Liberal Democrats took control of the council for the first time since 1999.[4][5]
Overview
Prior to the election the council was under no overall control, being run by a minority administration of some of the independent councillors, with independent Barry Warren serving as leader of the council.[6]
New ward boundaries took effect for this election, following a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. The number of seats stayed the same at 42, but the configuration of wards was changed to comprise five 3-member wards, ten 2-member wards and seven single member wards.[7][8]
The election saw the Liberal Democrats win a majority of the seats on the council. The independents and Conservatives both lost significant numbers of seats: leader of the council Barry Warren lost his seat, as did the Conservative group leader Clive Eginton.[9] Liberal Democrat group leader Luke Taylor was appointed leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 24 May 2023.[10]
Results summary
| 2023 Mid Devon District Council election[11][12] | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidates | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | |
| Liberal Democrats | 36 | 33 | 21 | 0 | 78.5 | 46.8 | 19,451 | +17.2 | ||
| Conservative | 40 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 11.9 | 33.2 | 13,811 | –0.9 | ||
| Green | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7.1 | 6.7 | 2,793 | –1.9 | ||
| Independent | 12 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2.4 | 7.9 | 3,286 | –6.0 | ||
| Labour | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 5.3 | 2,213 | –1.8 | ||
| Reform | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | <0.1 | 19 | N/A | ||
Ward results
Mid Devon District Council election results.[13]
Bradninch
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Luke Taylor* | 650 | 82.2 | N/A | |
| Labour | Piers Kotting | 92 | 11.6 | N/A | |
| Conservative | James Rutledge | 49 | 6.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 558 | 70.6 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 793 | 48.5 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Cadbury
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Rhys Roberts | 277 | 41.5 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Georgina Stone | 163 | 24.4 | N/A | |
| Independent | Bob Deed* | 137 | 20.5 | N/A | |
| Labour | Linda Luckhaus | 71 | 10.6 | N/A | |
| Reform | Jennifer Riddle | 19 | 2.8 | N/A | |
| Majority | 114 | 17.1 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 667 | 45.1 | N/A | ||
| Conservative win (new seat) | |||||
Canonsleigh
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Jane Lock | 736 | 63.6 | N/A | |
| Green | Gill Westcott | 521 | 45.0 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Christine Collis* | 375 | 32.4 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Paul Osman | 333 | 28.8 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,166 | 40.3 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Green win (new seat) | |||||
Clare & Shuttern
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Chris Adcock | 787 | 58.5 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Rachel Gilmour | 732 | 54.4 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Isobel Grant | 549 | 40.8 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Isla Farrington | 493 | 36.7 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,367 | 44.9 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Crediton Boniface
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Jim Cairney* | 497 | 57.4 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | John Downes* | 494 | 57.0 | N/A | |
| Independent | Steve Huxtable | 215 | 24.8 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Gina Ford | 194 | 22.4 | N/A | |
| Labour | John Humphreys | 138 | 15.9 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 870 | 27.5 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Crediton Lawrence
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Frank Letch* | 611 | 58.9 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Guy Cochran | 556 | 53.6 | N/A | |
| Labour | Laurie Laybourn | 307 | 29.6 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Sam Scougall-Scott | 254 | 24.5 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,058 | 34.3 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Cullompton Padbrook
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Lloyd Knight | 457 | 55.4 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Sue Robinson | 370 | 44.8 | N/A | |
| Conservative | John Berry* | 345 | 41.8 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Susan Lane-Smith | 263 | 31.9 | N/A | |
| Green | Anthony Humble-Smith | 123 | 14.9 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 828 | 27.6 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Cullompton St Andrews
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Emma Buczkowski | 636 | 59.7 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | James Buczkowski* | 634 | 59.5 | N/A | |
| Independent | Nikki Woollatt* | 479 | 45.0 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Jane Attwood | 322 | 30.2 | N/A | |
| Labour | Edward Southerden | 226 | 21.2 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Martin Whatley | 217 | 20.4 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Melvyn Hanks | 205 | 19.2 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,070 | 27.0 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Independent hold | |||||
Cullompton Vale
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Matt Fletcher | 166 | 65.6 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Rosemary Berry | 87 | 34.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 79 | 31.2 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 253 | 31.8 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Halberton
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Gwen DuChesne | 360 | 60.4 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Ray Radford* | 236 | 39.6 | N/A | |
| Majority | 124 | 20.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 596 | 38.1 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Lower Culm
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Andrea Glover | 814 | 45.3 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Cathy Connor | 702 | 39.1 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | John Poynton | 673 | 37.5 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Richard Chesterton* | 649 | 36.1 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Brian Lane-Smith | 461 | 25.7 | N/A | |
| Independent | Bob Evans* | 434 | 24.2 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Lewis Worrow | 419 | 23.3 | N/A | |
| Independent | Barry Warren* | 403 | 22.4 | N/A | |
| Labour | John Bell | 236 | 13.1 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,799 | 33.3 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Sandford & Creedy
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Helen Tuffin | 632 | 51.6 | N/A | |
| Green | Mark Jenkins | 576 | 47.1 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Margaret Squires* | 575 | 47.0 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Alex Monro | 517 | 42.2 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,238 | 43.6 | N/A | ||
| Green win (new seat) | |||||
| Green win (new seat) | |||||
Silverton
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Josh Wright* | 500 | 85.3 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Jerry Brook | 86 | 14.7 | N/A | |
| Majority | 414 | 70.6 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 586 | 37.9 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Taw Vale
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Steve Keable | 444 | 53.7 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Clive Eginton* | 383 | 46.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 61 | 7.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 827 | 48.5 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Tiverton Castle
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Ben Holdman | 553 | 55.6 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | David Wulff | 532 | 53.5 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Elizabeth Slade* | 273 | 27.4 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Luis Gordon | 265 | 26.6 | N/A | |
| Independent | Chris Berry | 198 | 19.9 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,009 | 30.1 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Tiverton Cranmore
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Les Cruwys* | 606 | 54.5 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Beckett Fish | 463 | 41.6 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Lance Kennedy | 445 | 40.0 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Sue Griggs* | 346 | 31.1 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Guy Edwards | 271 | 24.4 | N/A | |
| Independent | Chris Daw* | 262 | 23.6 | N/A | |
| Independent | Steve Bush | 229 | 20.6 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Nina Lindsay | 202 | 18.2 | N/A | |
| Labour | Tom Ewings | 109 | 9.8 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,121 | 28.8 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Tiverton Lowman
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Andy Cuddy | 574 | 50.9 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Gordon Czapiewski | 455 | 40.4 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Matt Farrell | 405 | 35.9 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Rebecca Clarke | 360 | 31.9 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Neal Davey* | 355 | 31.5 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Colin Slade* | 313 | 27.8 | N/A | |
| Independent | Tim Bridger | 250 | 22.2 | N/A | |
| Labour | Jason Chamberlain | 245 | 21.7 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,132 | 23.0 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Tiverton Westexe
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Dave Broom | 494 | 40.7 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jamie Frost | 444 | 36.6 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Claudette Harrower | 334 | 27.5 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Stephen Pugh* | 287 | 23.7 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Richard Watson | 277 | 22.8 | N/A | |
| Independent | Wally Burke* | 273 | 22.5 | N/A | |
| Independent | Jason Lejeune | 236 | 19.5 | N/A | |
| Labour | Alex Bingham | 221 | 18.2 | N/A | |
| Green | Martin Atkinson | 208 | 17.1 | N/A | |
| Independent | Steve Flaws | 170 | 14.0 | N/A | |
| Green | Chris Musgrave | 156 | 12.9 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,225 | 25.3 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Conservative win (new seat) | |||||
Upper Culm
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Simon Clist * | 814 | 60.8 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Natasha Bradshaw | 807 | 60.3 | N/A | |
| Conservative | James Bartlett* | 428 | 32.0 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Michael Cooper | 366 | 27.3 | N/A | |
| Labour | Terence Edwards | 127 | 9.5 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,346 | 39.6 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Upper Yeo & Taw
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Stuart Penny* | 591 | 47.8 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Natalia Letch | 561 | 45.4 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Peter Heal* | 524 | 42.4 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Andi Wyer* | 382 | 30.9 | N/A | |
| Labour | Hayden Sharp | 208 | 16.8 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,246 | 38.3 | N/A | ||
| Conservative win (new seat) | |||||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
Way
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Polly Colthorpe* | 351 | 50.5 | N/A | |
| Green | Rosie Wibberley | 344 | 49.5 | N/A | |
| Majority | 7 | 1.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 695 | 40.6 | N/A | ||
| Conservative win (new seat) | |||||
Yeo
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Sandy Chenore | 553 | 43.3 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Martin Binks | 490 | 38.4 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Angus Howie | 489 | 38.3 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Paul Perriman | 381 | 29.8 | N/A | |
| Labour | John Dean | 233 | 18.2 | N/A | |
| Green | Danuta Karpinska | 233 | 18.2 | N/A | |
| Turnout | 1,281 | 43.4 | N/A | ||
| Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | |||||
| Conservative win (new seat) | |||||
Changes 2023–2027
- Jamie Frost, elected as a Liberal Democrat in 2023, subsequently left the party.[36]
Upper Yeo & Taw
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Alex White | 405 | 52.2 | +6.8 | |
| Conservative | Peter Heal | 226 | 29.1 | −18.7 | |
| Labour | Hayden Sharp | 91 | 11.7 | −5.1 | |
| Green | Mark Scotland | 54 | 7.0 | N/A | |
| Majority | 179 | 23.1 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 781 | 24.2 | −14.1 | ||
| Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | +12.8 | |||
The Upper Yeo & Taw by-election was triggered by the resignation of councillor Stuart Penny. Penny had been elected as a Conservative in 2023, but left the party in August 2023 to sit as an independent before resigning from the council.[38]
- Claudette Harrower, elected as a Conservative in 2023, joined the Liberal Democrats in April 2024.[39]
Tiverton Westexe
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Adam Stirling | 431 | 45.4 | +4.7 | |
| Conservative | Paul Osman | 248 | 26.1 | −1.4 | |
| Independent | Jason Lejeune | 182 | 19.2 | −0.3 | |
| Green | Laura Buchanan | 88 | 9.3 | −7.8 | |
| Majority | 183 | 19.3 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 954 | 19.4 | −5.9 | ||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
The Tiverton Westexe by-election was triggered by the disqualification of councillor Jamie Frost after he failed to attend council meetings for six consecutive months. Frost had been elected as a Liberal Democrat in 2023 but later left the party.[36]
Clare and Shuttern
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Martyn Stratton | 664 | 50.0 | −8.5 | |
| Conservative | Toby William Gray | 615 | 46.3 | +5.5 | |
| Labour | Terry Edwards | 48 | 3.6 | N/A | |
| Majority | 49 | 3.7 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 1,373 | 44.5 | −0.4 | ||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | ||||
The Clare and Shuttern by-election followed the decision of councillor Rachel Gilmour, who had been elected as the Member of Parliament for Tiverton and Minehead in July 2024, to stand down from the district council.[42]
Crediton Lawrence
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Tim Stanford | 540 | 64.9 | +6.0 | |
| Reform | Andy Hankins | 226 | 27.2 | N/A | |
| Labour | Terence Edwards | 66 | 7.9 | −21.7 | |
| Majority | 314 | 37.7 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 843 | 27.1 | −7.2 | ||
| Registered electors | 3,110 | ||||
| Liberal Democrats hold | |||||
The Crediton Lawrence by-election was triggered by the death of councillor Frank Letch on 8 April 2025.[44]