Exeter election results 2022: Labour remains in control of council

Overall there was a 37% turnout of voters in Exeter

Labour remains in control of Exeter City Council.

More than a third of the seats on the 39-seat council were up for election on Thursday.

Previously Labour held 28, Conservatives held six and the Liberal Democrats and Greens had two each, with one Independent and four vacant seats.

Now Labour holds 26 seats, the Conservatives have five, the Liberal Democrats have two, the Green party have five and Independents have one.

Labour secured a seat in Topsham, which has for years been a Conservative stronghold, and the Green Party gained three new seats from Labour - two in Heavitree and one in St Davids.

After the results, the self-named Progressive Group - made up of the Greens, Liberal Democrats and one Independent - overtake the Conservatives to become the main opposition.

Analysis by Martyn Oates, political editor, BBC South West

On the face of it the elections in Plymouth and Exeter bring little change: Labour remains in comfortable control of Exeter while Plymouth remains under no overall control.

But in Plymouth Labour supporters were celebrating as they emerged level pegging with the Conservatives. A year earlier Labour had lost six seats to the Tories' nine gains.

Two specific results - one in Plymouth and the other in Exeter - will be of particular concern to the Conservatives.

The wards of Compton (Plymouth) and Topsham (Exeter) had always previously been held by the Conservatives.

Both now have their first ever Labour councillors. It was also a good night for the Green Party in both cities.

The Greens took three seats from Labour in Exeter, taking their total to five, and won their first ever seat on Plymouth City Council - at the expense of the Conservatives.

Labour won 12 of the 17 seats, but lost two seats overall.

Figures reveal the overall turnout of voters was 37%, Exeter City Council confirmed.

Labour Leader Phil Bialyk said Labour were "investing" in the city

Labour Leader Phil Bialyk said: "I think what people in Exeter have voted for is continuity. They've actually seen us deliver.

"We are investing in our city. We've had the most people voting Labour in Exeter."

Councillor Joshua Ellis-Jones, who won in Conservative stronghold Topsham, said: "I think Labour won in Topsham because Labour are sick and tired of how the Tories are treating the country. I think it was a real message sent to Boris Johnson and the rest of his party."

Conservative leader Andrew Leadbetter, who is a councillor for Topsham, said he felt national issues had "overshadowed" his party.

He told the BBC: "We've worked hard as we always do. Against a background of national politics, we've done OK, but obviously we'd have liked to have done better.

"We work very hard, we come into politics to do good, we help our residents and to have that all overshadowed by national issues is soul-destroying."

Meanwhile Green councillor Tess Read said her party were "challenging" Labour with the latest results.

She said: "The Greens are strong in a lot of parts of the city. We've got a lot of votes and the Greens are the only party who are really challenging Labour across the city."

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