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Wednesday 3 May 2017

Devon County Council elections >>> Thursday 4th May >>> a very close-run thing

The contest for the County Council is pretty close:
Futures Forum: Devon County Council elections > the parties, the candidates

As pointed out by an Independent candidate:

COUNTY ELECTIONS: ONLY 8 SEATS NEED TO CHANGE HANDS TO CHANGE THE POLITICAL MAJORITY


2 MAY 2017

As EDA candidate Paul Hayward points out on his Facebook page:

“Over the last 8 years, across the whole of Devon, decisions have been made by a majority group with no effective opposition. Result. Cuts, cuts and more cuts.

But in 2017, it only takes 7 seats to change and a new era of cooperation, debate and compromise can begin at Devon County Council.

Services can be protected. Fair funding can be applied. National party politics can be taken out of local government.

On May 4th, please choose to mark Independent, East Devon Alliance on your voting slip.”

You want change, you have to vote for it.


County elections: only 8 seats need to change hands to change the political majority | East Devon Watch

And on the Conservative Home website:

Council elections: Cornwall, Devon, Somerset. The Conservative / Lib Dem battlegrounds

April 26, 2017
By Harry Phibbs
6 comments

Given the dire electoral circumstances the Lib Dems faced when these seats were last contested in 2013, the local elections next week are bound to produce significant Lib Dem gains. In particular they will expect to pick up seats from Labour if that Party proves to be in a state of collapse.


What is harder to predict is what councils, if any, the Lib Dems will gain. This is partly due to the Conservative dominance in English county councils – and the Lib Dems will find battles against the Conservatives a bit more tough.

For Conservatives the struggle will be to keep Somerset and Devon from the Lib Dem clutches. These were both Conservative gains in 2009 which were then held in 2013. As with Cornwall, I think a key to Conservative survival will be squeezing the UKIP vote – which was also well above the Labour vote in both counties last time. 

Devon has the longest standing Liberal tradition – but some suggest that Somerset might be more vulnerable to the yellow peril this time. In the EU referendum Devon voted to Leave while Somerset was a pretty even split.

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