Labour retains control of Exeter City Council

Labour now has 25 seats on Exeter City Council

Labour has retained control of Exeter City Council.

For the second year in a row, the party gained a second seat in the former Tory stronghold of Topsham, but lost a seat in St Thomas to former Lib Dem council leader Adrian Fullam.

The Greens won in Newtown and St Leonard's - the only other seat to change hands, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Only a third of the 39-seat council was up for election.

• Who won in my area?

Phil Bialyk, Labour leader on Exeter, said it was "still an achievement" to win just over half the seats contested despite losing St Thomas.

"We will still be running the city council next week," he said.

"Exeter citizens have put faith in us, overall, to run their city for them, and I think in the main we try our best."

Diana Moore, Green Party councillor for St David's, said the opposition group would bring "balance and scrutiny" to the Labour-dominated council.

"We are willing to work cooperatively with others when this is in the interests of the local people we are elected to represent and the environment," she said.

Labour now has 25 seats on Exeter City Council, the Greens six, Conservatives four, the Liberal Democrats have three and there is one Independent.

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