The 2022 Exeter City Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect members to Exeter City Council in Devon, England. This was the same day as other local elections in the United Kingdom. 17 of the 39 seats were up for election, one councillor in each of the 13 wards, and 4 by-elections. These wards were last contested in 2018.
Council composition The Labour Party have a majority of 17 on the council. The Conservatives are the main opposition with 6 councillors. The Liberal Democrat, Green and Independent Councillors formed a "Progressive Group" following the 2019 elections.
In these elections, 10 wards up for election currently have a Labour councillor (Alphington; Exwick; Heavitree; Mincinglake & Whipton; Newtown & St Leonards; Pennsylvania; Pinhoe; Priory; St Davids; and St Thomas), 2 have Conservative councillors (St Loyes; and Topsham) and 1 has a Liberal Democrat councillor (Duryard and St James).
In addition to these seats, four by-elections have so far been announced in the Exwick, Heavitree, Pennsylvania and Priory wards. In order to retain their overall majority on the councillor, Labour need to win at least six seats.
Outgoing Councillors Each ward has the following outgoing councillor:
Alphington
Cllr. Bob Foale (Labour): Portfolio Holder for Transformation & Environment; First elected in 2016.
Duryard and St James
Cllr. Kevin Mitchell (Liberal Democrat): Liberal Democrat group leader; Progressive Group leader; First elected in 2003.
Exwick
Cllr. Rachel Sutton (Labour): Portfolio Holder for Net Zero Exeter 2030; First elected in 2010. A by-election will be held due to the resignation of Cllr. Ollie Pearson.
Heavitree
Cllr. Greg Sheldon (Labour); First elected in 1996. A by-election will be held due to the resignation of Cllr. Chris Buswell.
Mincinglake and Whipton
Cllr. Naima Allcock (Labour); First elected in 2021.
Newtown and St Leonards
Cllr. Matthew Vizard (Labour); First elected in 2017.
Pennsylvania
Cllr. Jane Begley (Labour); First elected in 2018. A by-election will be held due to the death of Cllr. Ian Quance.
Pinhoe
Cllr. Duncan Wood (Labour); First elected in 2016.
Priory
Cllr. Tony Wardle (Labour); First elected in 2008. A by-election will be held due to the resignation of Cllr. Alys Martin.
St Davids
Cllr. Luke Sills (Labour); First elected in 2016.
St Loyes
Cllr. Peter Holland (Conservative); First elected in 2014.
St Thomas
Cllr. Laura Wright (Labour): Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Council Housing Development and Services; First elected in 2018.
Topsham
Cllr. Keith Sparkes (Conservative); First elected in 2019.
Results summary
Ward results The full list of candidates was published on 6th April. An asterisk (*) denotes an incumbent councillor seeking re-election.
Jane Begley was an incumbent councillor for the Pennsylvania ward.
References