Exeter City Council is the local authority for the city of Exeter in Devon, England. Exeter has had a city council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a non-metropolitan district council. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2010. It meets at Exeter Guildhall and has its main offices at the Civic Centre on Paris Street.
Exeter City Council | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms of Exeter | |
 Logo | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Bindu Arjoon since March 2023[3] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 39 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 2 May 2024 |
Next election | 7 May 2026 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Guildhall, 203 High Street, Exeter, EX4 3EB | |
| Website | |
| exeter | |
History
editExeter was an ancient borough with city status. It was historically governed by a corporation, also known as the city council. The city was given the right to appoint a mayor by King John in the early thirteenth century.[4] In 1537 the city was made a county corporate with its own sheriff and quarter sessions, making it administratively separate from the surrounding county of Devon.[5]
The city council was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough, governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and citizens of the city of Exeter" but informally known as the corporation or city council.[6] When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 Exeter was considered large enough to run its own county-level services and so it was made a county borough, independent from Devon County Council.[7]
The city was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, becoming a lower-tier district authority with Devon County Council providing county-level functions to the city for the first time. The city kept the same outer boundaries, but gained control of the "Devon County Buildings Area", being three separate exclaves of Devon surrounded by the city, containing Devon County Hall, Rougemont Castle and the county judges' lodgings at Larkbeare House.[8][9] Exeter's city status was re-conferred on the reformed district, allowing the council to take the name Exeter City Council.[10] The city's mayor was raised to the status of a lord mayor in 2002.[11]
In 2010 the government proposed that the city should become an independent unitary authority, like nearby Plymouth and Torbay. The statutory orders to set up the unitary authority were passed in Parliament and a new unitary city council was due to start in Exeter on 1 April 2011. However, following the change of government at the 2010 general election the reorganisation was cancelled.[12][13]
Governance
editExeter City Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Devon County Council.[14] There are no civil parishes in Exeter; the entire city is an unparished area.[15]
Political control
editThe council has been under Labour majority control since 2012.
Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:[16]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 1974–1976 | |
| Conservative | 1976–1983 | |
| No overall control | 1983–1995 | |
| Labour | 1995–2003 | |
| No overall control | 2003–2012 | |
| Labour | 2012–present | |
Leadership
editThe role of Lord Mayor of Exeter is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1983 have been:[17]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester Long[18] | Labour | 1983 | 1999 | |
| Roy Slack | Labour | 1999 | 6 May 2007 | |
| Pete Edwards | Labour | 15 May 2007 | 13 May 2008 | |
| Adrian Fullam | Liberal Democrats | 13 May 2008 | 21 Sep 2010 | |
| Pete Edwards | Labour | 21 Sep 2010 | 5 May 2019 | |
| Philip Bialyk | Labour | 14 May 2019 | ||
Composition
editFollowing the 2024 election, the composition of the council was:[19]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 24 | |
| Green | 7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 4 | |
| Conservative | 3 | |
| Independent | 1 | |
| Total | 39 | |
The Greens and Liberal Democrats sit together as the "Progressive Group". The next election is due in May 2026.
Premises
edit
Full council meetings are generally held at the city's Guildhall at 203 High Street, which was built around 1470. The council's main offices are at the Civic Centre, a 1970s building on Paris Street in the city centre.[20][21]
Elections
editSince the last boundary changes in 2016, the council has comprised 39 councillors, representing 13 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) being elected at a time for a four-year term. Devon County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no elections to the city council.[22]
Wards and councillors
editThe wards of the city for City Council purposes are listed below.[23]
- Alphington
- Duryard & St James
- Exwick
- Heavitree
- Mincinglake & Whipton
- Newtown & St Leonards
- Pennsylvania
- Pinhoe
- Priory
- St David's
- St Loyes
- St Thomas
- Topsham
Following the May 2022 elections, David Harvey (Pinhoe) left the Labour group, and subsequently sits as an Independent.[24]
| Ward | Party | Member | Election | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphington | Labour | Yvonne Atkinson | 2023 | |
| Labour | Bob Foale | 2022 | ||
| Labour | Steve Warwick | 2021 | ||
| Duryard & St James | Liberal Democrats | Kevin Mitchell | 2022 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Michael Mitchell | 2023 | ||
| Labour | Martin Pearce | 2021 | ||
| Exwick | Labour | Phil Bialyk | 2021 | |
| Labour | Graeme Knott | 2022 | ||
| Labour | Susannah Patrick | 2023 | ||
| Heavitree | Green | Carol Bennett | 2023 | |
| Labour | Barbara Denning | 2021 | ||
| Green | Catherine Rees | 2022 | ||
| Mincinglake & Whipton | Labour | Naima Allcock | 2022 | |
| Labour | Emma Morse | 2021 | ||
| Labour | Ruth Williams | 2023 | ||
| Newtown & St Leonards | Labour | Richard Branston | 2021 | |
| Green | Andy Ketchin | 2023 | ||
| Labour | Matthew Vizard | 2022 | ||
| Pennsylvania | Labour | Zion Lights | 2021 | |
| Labour | Josie Parkhouse | 2022 | ||
| Labour | Martyn Snow | 2023 | ||
| Pinhoe | Independent[24] | David Harvey | 2021 | |
| Labour | Mollie Miller | 2023 | ||
| Labour | Duncan Wood | 2022 | ||
| Priory | Labour | Marina Asvachin | 2022 | |
| Labour | Jane Begley | 2023 | ||
| Labour | Tony Wardle | 2022 | ||
| St Davids | Green | Diana Moore | 2023 | |
| Green | Tess Read | 2022 | ||
| Green | Amy Sparling | 2021 | ||
| St Loyes | Conservative | Alison Sheridan | 2023 | |
| Conservative | Peter Holland | 2022 | ||
| Conservative | Anne Jobson | 2021 | ||
| St Thomas | Labour | Rob Hannaford | 2021 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Adrian Fullam | 2023 | ||
| Labour | Laura Wright | 2022 | ||
| Topsham | Conservative | Andrew Leadbetter | 2021 | |
| Labour | Matthew Williams | 2023 | ||
| Labour | Joshua Ellis-Jones | 2022 | ||
References
edit- ^ Henderson, Guy (16 May 2024). "Cllr Kevin Mitchell gets second term as Exeter Lord Mayor". Midweek Herald. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ "Council minutes, 14 May 2019" (PDF). Exeter City Council. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "Exeter City Council appoints new chief executive". BBC News. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ Lysons, Daniel; Lysons, Samuel (1822). Magna Britannia. London: T. Cadell & W. Davies. pp. 177–234. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ "Exeter Borough". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4 c. 76)
- ^ "Exeter Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 22 June 2023
- ^ "Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map, Sheet SX99". National Library of Scotland. 1967. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ "No. 46255". The London Gazette. 4 April 1974. p. 4400.
- ^ "Crown Office". London Gazette. 1 May 2002. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
- ^ "The Coalition: our programme for government" (PDF). HM Government, United Kingdom. 20 May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- ^ Hennessy, Patrick (22 May 2010). "The Queen's Speech: Bill by Bill". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
- ^ "Election maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ "English local elections 2007: Exeter". BBC News. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "Council minutes". Exeter City Council. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "From the Grassroots: An oral history of community politics in Devon". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "Local elections 2024: full mayoral and council results for England". The Guardian. 4 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "The Guildhall, 203 High Street, Exeter (Grade I) (1103905)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "Council agenda, 19 July 2022". Exeter City Council. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "The Exeter (Electoral Changes) Order 2016", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2016/65, retrieved 22 June 2023
- ^ "Your Councillors by Ward". Exter City Council. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^ a b "Councillor details - Councillor David Harvey". committees.exeter.gov.uk. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.