Exeter bucks national trend as Labour increases grip on city

LABOUR retained control of Exeter City Council – and with an increased majority.

Residents across the county went to the polls on Thursday for the first time since 2019, with the one third of Exeter City Council up for re-election in the delayed 2020 local elections.

Labour secured the four seats from the 14 up for grabs that they needed to retain the control of the council, but they saw their majority rise by one, as they picked up 11 of the 14 seats, with the Conservatives holding two, and the Green Party winning a seat in St David’s.

The elected councillors will serve a three year term to ensure the return to the usual electoral cycle, with the runner-up in Mincinglake and Whipton, where two councillors were elected with a by-election also taking place following the death of a serving councillor, serving just the one year. Leader of the council Cllr

Phil Bialyk, as well as executive members David Harvey and Emma Morse, were among those re-elected, as was Cllr Andrew Leadbetter, leader of the Conservative group.

Cllr Bialyk, on the win and increased majority that bucked a difficult day nationally for Labour, said: “It has been a good here for my party in Exeter. We have retained the council, we have got some good councillors back, have a good manifesto which has been supported overwhelmingly by the people of Exeter, and we intend to carry that out for the benefits of everyone.

“It is a privilege to be elected by the peers and I believe there is a degree of trust in politicians here in Exeter.

“We have some great projects happening in the next year, St Sidwell’s Point is to open, the Riverside is to reopen on July 24, investing £50m into the city and providing jobs, but there is a lot going on in Exeter.”