2023 Mid Devon District Council election

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.

2023 Mid Devon District Council election

← 2019 4 May 2023 (2023-05-04) 2027 →
All 42 seats to Mid Devon District Council 22 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Luke Taylor Clive Eginton Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Last election 12 seats, 29.6% 18 seats, 34.1% Seats before 11 17 Seats after 33 5 Seat change 21 13 Popular vote 19,451 13,811 Percentage 46.8% 33.2% Swing 17.2% 0.9%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Elizabeth Lloyd Party Green Independent Last election 2 seats, 8.6% 10 seats, 13.9% Seats before 2 12[a] Seats after 3 1 Seat change 1 9 Popular vote 2,793 3,286 Percentage 6.7% 7.6 Swing 1.9% 6.0%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Mid Devon District Council election
Leader before election Barry Warren Independent No overall control Leader after election Luke Taylor Liberal Democrats

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]
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	36[12][13]	33	21	0	21	78.5	46.8	19,451	+17.2
	Conservative	40	5	0	13	13	11.9	33.2	13,811	–0.9
	Green	8	3	2	0	2	7.1	6.7	2,793	–1.9
	Independent	12	1	0	10	10	2.4	7.9	3,286	–6.0
	Labour	13	0	0	0		0.0	5.3	2,212	–1.8
	Reform UK	1	0	0	0		0.0	<0.1	19	N/A

Ward results

Mid Devon District Council election results.^[14]

Bradninch

Bradninch^[15]

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

Cadbury^[16]

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 UK	Jennifer Riddle	19	2.8	N/A
Majority			114	17.1	N/A
Turnout			667	45.1	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

Canonsleigh

Canonsleigh (2 seats)^[17]

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

Clare & Shuttern (2 seats)^[18]

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

Crediton Boniface (2 seats)^[19]

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

Crediton Lawrence (2 seats)^[20]

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

Cullompton Padbrook (2 seats)^[21]

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

Cullompton St Andrews (3 seats)^[22]

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

Cullompton Vale^[23]

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

Halberton^[24]

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

Lower Culm (3 seats)^[25]

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

Sandford & Creedy (2 seats)^[26]

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

Silverton^[27]

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

Taw Vale^[28]

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

Tiverton Castle (2 seats)^[29]

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

Tiverton Cranmore (3 seats)^[30]

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

Tiverton Lowman (3 seats)^[31]

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

Tiverton Westexe (3 seats)^[32]

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

Upper Culm (2 seats)^[33]

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

Upper Yeo & Taw (2 seats)^[34]

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

Way^[35]

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

Yeo (2 seats)^[36]

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, left the party in February 2024 to sit as an independent.^[37]

Upper Yeo & Taw

Upper Yeo & Taw by-election, 7 March 2024^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alex White	405	52.2	+21.3
	Conservative	Peter Heal	226	29.1	−13.3
	Labour	Hayden Sharp	91	11.7	−5.1
	Green	Mark Scotland	54	7.0	New
Majority			179	23.1	N/A
Turnout			776	24.2	−14.1
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.3

By-election triggered by the resignation of Stuart Penny, who was elected as a Conservative in 2023 but had left the party in August 2023 to sit as an independent before resigning from the council altogether.^[39]

• Claudette Harrower, elected as a Conservative in 2023, joined the Liberal Democrats in April 2024.^[40]

Tiverton Westexe

Tiverton Westexe by-election, 20 June 2024

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Adam Stirling	431	45.4	+13.1
	Conservative	Paul Osman	248	26.1	+4.3
	Independent	Jason Lejeune	182	19.2	New
	Green	Laura Buchanan	88	9.3	−4.3
Majority			183	19.3	N/A
Turnout			954	19.4	−5.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+4.4

By-election triggered by disqualification of Jamie Frost for non-attendance. He had been elected in 2023 as a Liberal Democrat, but had left the party and sat as an independent until his disqualification.

Clare and Shuttern

Clare and Shuttern By-Election 1 May 2025

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Martyn Stratton	664	50.0
	Conservative	Toby William Gray	615	46.3
	Labour	Terry Edwards	48	3.6
Majority			49	36.9
Turnout			1,373	44.5
	Liberal Democrats hold