Tudor Evans

Evans was born in Ebbw Vale in Wales.^[2] He moved to Plymouth as an undergraduate, studying environmental science.^[3][4] He was a director of a co-operative printing company for thirteen years, and works as a local government consultant.^[4]

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Evans first stood for election to Plymouth City Council in 1987 in Sutton and Mount Gould ward, losing to SDP–Liberal Alliance candidates.^[5] He was subsequently elected as a councillor to Ham ward in 1988, a seat he has held ever since.^[6]

After the 1998 local election, the Labour group leader John Ingham stood down, having led the council for seven years.^[7] Evans put himself forward as a candidate lead the Labour group against fellow councillors Chris Mavin and David Millar.^[8] Evans was elected, saying he wanted to prioritise investment, jobs and the tourism industry.^[9] He led the council until 2000, when the Conservatives won a majority of seats on the council.

Evans became council leader again in 2003, crediting his victory to Conservative plans to close old people's homes.^[8] When Labour lost its majority in 2007, he said he was "proud of what [his] council has achieved", but "puzzled" at having lost control.^[9]

Labour again took control of the council in 2012, with the defeated Conservative council leader Vivien Pengelly blaming a cut in the top rate of income tax and the proposed pasty tax from the Conservative chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's budget. Evans again returned as council leader on a platform including job creation, webcasting council meetings, and trying to stop the construction of an incinerator.^[10][11] He said he was not opposed to the incinerator, but to the planned location.^[12] In 2013, the council established an energy co-operative called Plymouth Energy Community.^[13] In 2014, he was a signatory to an open letter to The Observer calling for an end to cuts to local government.^[14] He advocated for Plymouth to be included in a national policy of compensation for businesses affected by flooding.^[15]

The party lost control after the 2015 election, which left the council under no overall control. Evans initially remained council leader.^[16] He was removed from that post after the 2016 local elections, with local UK Independence Party councillors forming a coalition with the Conservatives and later defecting to them.^[9] During this time, Evans supported a cross-party campaign for Plymouth to retain its warships.^[17]

After Labour restored its majority in the 2018 council election, Evans returned as council leader with a manifesto including pledges to create a thousand new parking spaces and to construct new low-cost homes.^[18] Evans opposed plans to merge Devon and Cornwall Police with Dorset Police.^[19] Labour lost the 2021 council election, and Evans was replaced by the Conservative councillor Nick Kelly as council leader.^[20]

In 2022, Evans successfully ran for a position on the Labour Party National Executive Committee as a Councillor representative.^[21] He did not run for re-election in 2024.^[22]

Labour regained control of the council in the 2023 council election. Evans returned as council leader.^[8]

Evans was named council leader of the year in 2015.^[23] He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to politics and local government in January 2016.^[2][24]