2023 North Devon District Council election

2023 North Devon District Council election
All 42 seats to North Devon District Council; 22 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	32.75
	Winner of each seat at the 2023 North Devon District Council election
Leader before election; David Worden; Liberal Democrats	Leader after election ; Ian Roome; Liberal Democrats

The 2023 North Devon District Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of North Devon District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The Liberal Democrats retained control of the council.

Overview

At the last elections in 2019 the Liberal Democrats won exactly half the seats, leaving the council in no overall control. They took control in December 2022 through winning a by-election.^[5]

The Liberal Democrats retained their majority on the council, taking 22 of the 42 seats.^[6] Following the election they changed party leader, with Ian Roome being appointed the new leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 18 May 2023.^[7] After the election the independent councillors and Greens formed a single group called the North Devon Independent Group led by independent councillor Malcolm Prowse.^[8] The Conservatives' leader before the election, Jeremy Yabsley, did not stand for re-election. They chose Paul Crabb as their new leader after the election.^[9]

Results summary

2023 North Devon District Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	34^[10]	22	3	2	1	54.76	40.49	17,501	2.8
	Independent	22	10	2	2		21.43	18.87	8,158	9.0
	Conservative	24	7	1	3	2	16.67	18.60	8,041	7.1
	Green	25	3	2	1	1	7.14	15.06	6,508	0.2
	Labour	18	0	0	0		0.00	6.95	3,003	0.4
	Communist	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.04	15	0.04

Ward results

Sitting councillors are marked with an asterisk (*).

Barnstaple Central

Barnstaple Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Syed Jusef	273	53.53	22.7
	Conservative	Reginald Howe	92	18.04	2.2
	Green	Howard Porter	86	16.86	28.0
	Labour	Roy Tomlinson	28	5.49	3.0
	Independent	Bobby Burden-Brewer	16	3.14	N/A
	Communist	Gerard Sables	15	2.94	N/A
Majority
Turnout			515	25.71	5.62
	Liberal Democrats gain from Green		Swing

Barnstaple with Pilton

Barnstaple with Pilton (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Roome*	1,037	64.09	6.9
	Liberal Democrats	Mel Lovering*	845	52.22	7.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Orange*	766	47.34	0.7
	Green	Robbie Mack	344	21.26	6.7
	Green	Lou Goodger	333	20.58	7.0
	Green	L'Anne Knight	328	20.27	1.5
	Conservative	Francesca McKeever	300	18.54	0.7
	Labour	Finola O'Neill	206	12.73	3.4
Turnout			1,618	27.04	3.58
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Barnstaple with Westacott

Barnstaple with Westacott (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Leaver	712	52.74	7.9
	Liberal Democrats	David Clayton	705	52.22	12.1
	Liberal Democrats	Katrina Stevenson	690	51.11	18.9
	Conservative	Lisa MacKenzie	401	29.70	3.7
	Green	Steven White	263	19.48	1.0
	Independent	John Carter	206	15.26	N/A
	Independent	Val Monk	205	15.19	N/A
	Labour	Helen Marini	196	14.52	1.9
Turnout			1,350	24.14	3.46
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Bickington

Bickington (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Joy Cann*	810	56.09	15.8
	Liberal Democrats	Will Topps*	778	53.88	13.6
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Walker*	741	51.32	15.0
	Conservative	Gary Beglin	460	31.86	0.2
	Conservative	Chris Hopkins	441	30.54	2.1
	Green	Christine Basil	361	25.00	10.8
Turnout			1,444	26.41	7.92
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Bishops Nympton

Bishops Nympton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Robin Milton	495	68.66	5.4
	Green	Nicholas Withers	131	18.17	8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Ashraf Shah	95	13.18	2.7
Majority			364	50.49	5.71
Turnout			721	38.10	9.45
	Independent hold		Swing

Bratton Fleming

Bratton Fleming
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Malcolm Prowse*	485	62.02	9.7
	Green	Ian Godfrey	112	14.32	4.7
	Conservative	Dominic Chugg	102	13.04	N/A
	Labour	Marian Mason	81	10.36	1.1
Majority			373	47.70	5.0
Turnout			782	40.49	4.46
	Independent hold		Swing

Braunton East

Braunton East (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Spear*	664	43.51	9.8
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Bell	642	42.07	8.5
	Green	David Relph	483	31.65	1.7
	Green	Cas Lay	390	25.56	4.9
	Independent	Adrian Bryant	272	17.82	N/A
	Labour	Nicholas Agnew	174	11.40	4.0
Turnout			1,526	39.85	0.23
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Braunton West & Georgeham

Braunton West & Georgeham (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Simon Maddocks	659	42.27	N/A
	Conservative	Pru Maskell	534	34.25	3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Tristan Clarkson	371	23.80	6.8
	Liberal Democrats	Julian Cox	342	21.94	5.9
	Labour	Mark Cann	290	18.60	3.3
	Independent	Jasmine Chesters* (a)	260	16.68	14.1
	Green	Brett Parker	244	15.65	7.4
Turnout			1,559	41.49	2.34
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

(a) Jasmine Chesters was elected in 2019 as a Conservative.

Chittlehampton

Chittlehampton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Susan Whitehead	371	47.63	7.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jamie Burn	255	32.73	5.3
	Green	Neil Basil	109	13.99	16.7
	Labour	Cecily Blyther	52	6.68	4.7
Majority			116	14.9	5.6
Turnout			779	38.78	0.37
	Conservative hold		Swing

Chulmleigh

Chulmleigh
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Davies*	498	63.36	12.5
	Conservative	Judith Lee	232	29.52	11.1
	Labour	Harry Ellis	54	6.87	0.6
Majority			266	33.84	22.5
Turnout			786	42.73	1.60
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Combe Martin

Combe Martin
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Brian Lethaby	382	52.04	33.6
	Conservative	Lawrence Irving	239	32.56	N/A
	Green	Robert Cornish	113	15.40	6.0
Majority			143	19.48	56.7
Turnout			740	35.05	10.27
	Independent hold		Swing

Fremington

Fremington (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Frank Biederman*	1,223	72.54	6.3
	Independent	Neil Denton	705	41.82	N/A
	Independent	Jim Bell	473	28.06	1.9
	Independent	Bowser Harris	233	13.82	N/A
	Conservative	Jack Juby	207	12.28	2.1
	Labour	Doug McLynn	147	8.72	3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Keith York	128	7.59	3.1
Turnout			1,688	38.69	3.10
	Independent hold
	Independent hold

Heanton Punchardon

Heanton Punchardon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Ricky Knight	275	59.40	43.9
	Liberal Democrats	Dennis Jenkins	113	24.41	12.6
	Labour	Valerie Cann	75	16.20	7.7
Majority			162	34.99	0.2
Turnout			479	25.67	5.49
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing

Ilfracombe East

Ilfracombe East (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	June Williams	718	52.07	24.5
	Conservative	Paul Crabb*	674	48.88	13.1
	Conservative	Daniel Turton*	673	48.80	11.4
	Labour	Teresa Elliott	645	46.77	34.5
	Green	Linda Mack	572	41.48	26.8
Turnout			1,387	27.00	5.2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Ilfracombe West

Ilfracombe West (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Sara Wilson	524	48.43	11.4
	Conservative	Jonathan Quinn	432	39.93	13.5
	Conservative	Mark Fay	365	33.73	N/A
	Labour	Toby Ebert	337	31.15	19.4
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Baxter	315	29.11	12.0
Turnout			1,084	30.96	1.2
	Green hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Instow

Instow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lucinda Renshaw	217	30.27	12.7
	Independent	Becky Coombs	188	26.22	N/A
	Independent	Joanne Bell	114	15.90	N/A
	Green	Emily Herbert	103	14.37	1.8
	Labour	Brendon O'Brien	66	9.21	5.3
	Independent	Nicholas Arthur	29	4.04	N/A
Majority			29	4.05	2.1
Turnout			724	38.53	3.48
	Conservative hold		Swing

Landkey

Landkey (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Glyn Lane* (a)	498	41.26	0.6
	Green	Mark Haworth-Booth	454	37.61	23.9
	Liberal Democrats	Victoria Nel*	443	36.70	2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Janeiro	238	19.72	13.4
	Green	Lucie Redwood	196	16.24	1.0
	Labour	Tamsin Higgs	75	6.21	1.3
Turnout			1,218	32.87	8.42
	Independent hold
	Green gain from Conservative

(a) : Glyn Lane was elected as Conservative in 2019.

Lynton & Lynmouth

Lynton & Lynmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Patrinos*	363	56.28	3.1
	Conservative	Arthur Atherton	201	31.16	12.6
	Liberal Democrats	Damian Owen	81	12.56	N/A
Majority			162	25.12	12.4
Turnout			648	35.92	8.81
	Independent hold		Swing

Marwood

Marwood
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Julie Hunt	Unopposed
	Liberal Democrats hold

Mortehoe

Mortehoe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Wilkinson*	309	56.49	8.9
	Conservative	Sue Kingdom	130	23.77	0.5
	Green	Shona Davis	58	10.60	n/a
	Labour	Oliver Bell	50	9.14	1.3
Majority			179	32.72	8.4
Turnout			550	31.70	4.62
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Newport

Newport (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Leaver*	798	61.62	8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Louisa York*	654	50.50	0.7
	Conservative	David Hoare (Con)	352	27.18	3.0
	Green	Matt Chamings	245	18.92	3.9
	Green	Rosie Haworth-Booth	150	11.58	2.1
	Labour	Alison Stringer	140	10.81	1.7
Turnout			1,304	32.76	2.43
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

North Molton

North Molton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liz Bulled*	407	59.33	12.1
	Liberal Democrats	Gabi Marchewka	145	21.14	7.5
	Green	Chris Barraclough	134	19.53	n/a
Majority			262	38.14	4.7
Turnout			688	38.71	1.97
	Conservative hold		Swing

Roundswell

Roundswell (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Knight*	656	57.44	4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Norman	590	51.66	3.9
	Conservative	Stephen Burridge	323	28.28	7.5
	Conservative	Simon Randall	270	23.64	8.3
	Independent	Alan Rennles (a)	239	20.93	n/a
	Labour	Ian Crawford	98	8.58	0.8
Turnout			1,148	36.35	1.54
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

(a) : Alan Rennles was the mayor of Barnstaple until 2023, as a member of the Liberal Democrats.

South Molton

South Molton (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Worden*	916	65.52	20.3
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Bishop	600	42.92	15.4
	No Description	Matthew Bushell* (a)	573	40.99	4.1
	Independent	Paul Henderson* (b)	438	31.33	5.8
	Conservative	Vanessa Burnham	337	24.11	2.2
	Labour	Steven Hinchliffe	289	20.67	7.4
	Conservative	Natasha Vukic	281	20.10	3.2
	Green	Gill Saunders	257	18.38	7.1
	Independent	Marc Cornelius	245	17.53	5.1
Turnout			1,495	30.98	10.45
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent
	Liberal Democrats hold

(a) : Matthew Bushell was elected in 2019 for the Liberal Democrats.
(b) : Paul Henderson was elected in 2019 for the Conservative Party.

Witheridge

Witheridge
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Peter Jones	430	63.89	n/a
	Green	Woody Fox	243	36.11	19.2
Majority			187	27.78	21.7
Turnout			681	35.47	6.09
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

By-elections

Instow, 9th January 2025

Instow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Becky Coombs	197	38.10	11.88
	Conservative	Christopher Hopkins	166	32.11	1.84
	Reform UK	Richard Booth	88	17.02	N/A
	Independent	Graham Payne	49	9.48	N/A
	Green	Howard Porter	17	3.29	11.08
Majority			31	5.99
Turnout			517	27.37	11.16
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

References

^ Of the nine independent councillors prior to the election, seven formed the "Independents Group" led by Malcolm Prowse and two (both former Conservatives) formed the "North Devon Independent Group" led by Glyn Lane.^[1]

^ "Your councillors by party". North Devon Council. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
^ "Current election information". North Devon District Council. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
^ "Election timetable in England". UK Government. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
^ "Local Elections 2023: Voters across Devon to elect new councils in May". BBC News. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
^ "North Devon Lib Dems 'expecting to do well' in local elections". North Devon Gazette. 5 January 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
^ Murrie, Ewan; Brodie, Owen (5 May 2023). "Lib Dems retain control of North Devon Council". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
^ Clarke, Lewis (23 June 2023). "North Devon Council appoints MP-hopeful councillor Ian Roome as leader". Devon Live. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
^ Clarke, Lewis (6 June 2023). "North Devon's Greens and Independents unite to challenge Lib Dems". Devon Live. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
^ "Your councillors by political grouping". North Devon Council. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
^ "Results and candidates by ward 4 May 2023". North Devon Council. Retrieved 11 April 2023.

[2] Of the nine independent councillors prior to the election, seven formed the "Independents Group" led by Malcolm Prowse and two (both former Conservatives) formed the "North Devon Independent Group" led by Glyn Lane.^[1]

[1] "Your councillors by party". North Devon Council. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.

[3] "Current election information". North Devon District Council. Retrieved 11 April 2022.

[4] "Election timetable in England". UK Government. Retrieved 10 April 2023.

[5] "Local Elections 2023: Voters across Devon to elect new councils in May". BBC News. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.

[6] "North Devon Lib Dems 'expecting to do well' in local elections". North Devon Gazette. 5 January 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.

[7] Murrie, Ewan; Brodie, Owen (5 May 2023). "Lib Dems retain control of North Devon Council". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2023.

[8] Clarke, Lewis (23 June 2023). "North Devon Council appoints MP-hopeful councillor Ian Roome as leader". Devon Live. Retrieved 23 June 2023.

[9] Clarke, Lewis (6 June 2023). "North Devon's Greens and Independents unite to challenge Lib Dems". Devon Live. Retrieved 23 June 2023.

[10] "Your councillors by political grouping". North Devon Council. Retrieved 23 June 2023.

[11] "Results and candidates by ward 4 May 2023". North Devon Council. Retrieved 11 April 2023.

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