Western Morning News (Saturday)
Campaigns under way as council seats up for grabs
CANDIDATES for election to councils in Devon and Cornwall are preparing to face the voters, as campaigning for the May 6 polls is stepped up.
Elections will take place for all 60 seats on Devon County Council and 87 on the Cornwall unitary authority with voters going to the polls to elect their representatives for the next four years.
In Devon the entirety of the 60-strong council will be up for re-election, with 56 ‘single-member’ Electoral Divisions and 2 ‘two-member’ Divisions.
The current composition of the council consists of 41 Conservatives, 6 Labour, 6 Liberal Democrats, 4 Independents, 1 Green Party, 1 East Devon Alliance and 1 North Devon Liberal.
More than a quarter of the council will change, with 17 current councillors not standing for re-election, including the current chairman of the council Stuart Barker and cabinet member Barry Parsons, as well as the former leader of the council Brian Greenslade.
The Conservatives and Labour are the only parties who are fielding the maximum of 60 candidates, with the Liberal Democrats fielding 55.
The Green Party are fielding 45 candidates, with one from UKIP, five from Reform UK, and 20 from the Freedom Alliance, who are standing on a platform of ‘no lockdowns, no curfews’.
The East Devon Alliance have three candidates, the Trade Unionist and Social Coalition have six, while there are 28 Independent candidates.
In Cornwall the council is going through a significant transformation as the number of elected members is reduced from
123 to 87.
The council has had the same number of councillors since it was formed in 2009 when the six former district councils were merged with the then-Cornwall County Council.
Also up for election this time around are seats on dozens of town and parish councils across Cornwall. These do not include all areas of the county as many will not have to hold elections since not enough candidates have put themselves forward, so some will automatically get their seats.
People have been asked to bring their own pens and pencils to help combat the spread of Covid-19 this year when they go to the polling station.
Also being elected is the Devon and Cornwall police and crime commissioner where candidates from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party are lining up to challenge Conservative Alison Hernandez who is seeking reelection as the current police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall.
The voting takes place across the two counties alongside elections for Cornwall and Devon councils, a third of the seats in Exeter and Plymouth, local council by-elections, parish and town councils and neighbourhood plan referendums.