Western Morning News (Saturday)
Labour hold on to power in Exeter
EXETER City Council is still under the control of Labour but they have seen their majority cut after Thursday’s local council elections.
Voters went to the polls to put 17 city councillors into 13 wards across the city.
Ahead of the vote, Exeter City Council consisted of Labour with 24 seats, the Conservatives with six, Greens on two, and the Liberal Democrats on two. There was one Independent on the council and four vacant seats.
In a major upset, Labour gained a seat from the Conservatives in upmarket Topsham.
But they lost one seat to the Green Party in St David’s and two seats to the Greens in Heavitree – leaving them with two fewer seats than they started with.
All four of the vacant seats had been held by Labour.
The Conservatives lost one seat, while the Liberal Democrats defended the seats they held.
The Green Party could fairly claim the best night, gaining three seats, taking both the Heavitree seats which were up for grabs, as well as St David’s. In all, the Greens now have five seats on Exeter City Council.
After Thursday’s vote, the composition of the council is: Labour (26), Conservatives (5), Green (5), Liberal Democrats (2), Independents (1).
Cllr Phil Bialyk, leader of Exeter City Council, said it was an “interesting evening”. He said: “We have 26 of 39 councillors, so the dial has not changed.
“We are in control of Exeter, the people have voted for our manifesto, they like what we are doing, and we will continue to do what we say in our manifesto, and we have delivered.
“We have delivered on St Sidwell’s Point. It is fantastic and people are loving it. Some of the results haven’t gone our way but they never do in politics, but I have Topsham to counter that.
What happened there? People listened. They now have a fantastic young councillor and will make sure the voice of Topsham is heard.”
He said national politics may have played a part in some of the decisions made by voters, but the message from the people overall was: “They like what we are doing as a city council.”
Cllr Joshua Ellis-Jones, who took the Topsham ward, said: “I want to thank the residents who voted for me.
“A win for Labour for the first time. I will represent them for the best I can. A testament to the team, we knocked on doors, listened, and we did it and went back and proved that we could act. This is just the beginning of Labour in Topsham and we can build on the success.”
Cllr Tess Read for the Greens, said: “I am so delighted to win. We have three Green councillors [in St David’s], which is amazing.”