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Exeter City Council

UK non-metropolitan district council

Field	Value
background_color	#00802C
name	Exeter City Council
coa_pic	File:Coat of arms of Exeter.svg
coa_caption	Coat of arms of Exeter
coa_res	250px
logo_pic	Exeter City Council logo.svg
logo_caption	Logo
logo_res	250px
house_type	Non-metropolitan district
jurisdiction	Exeter
foundation	1 April 1974
leader1_type	Lord Mayor
leader1	Anne Jobson
party1
Conservative
election1	13 May 2025
leader2_type	Leader
leader2	Philip Bialyk
party2
Labour
election2	14 May 2019
leader3_type	Chief Executive
leader3	Bindu Arjoon
party3
election3	March 2023
members	39 councillors
structure1	Exeter City Council.svg
structure1_alt	An arch diagram of the political makeup of Exeter City Council in 2025
structure1_res	250px
political_groups1	; Administration (22)
:	border	darkgray}} Labour (22)
:	border	darkgray}} Green (7)
:	border	darkgray}} Liberal Democrats (4)}}
:	border	darkgray}} Conservative (2)
:	border	darkgray}} Reform UK (2)
:	border	darkgray}} Independent (2)
voting_system1	First past the post
last_election1	2 May 2024
next_election1	None
session_room	Exeter - High Street, Guildhall.jpg
session_res	250px
meeting_place	Guildhall, 203 High Street, Exeter, EX43EB
website
constitution	The Constitution of Exeter City Council

Conservative Labour : Labour (22) ; Other parties (17) : Green (7) : : Conservative (2) : Reform UK (2) : Independent (2) 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.

History

Exeter 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. In 1537 the city was made a county corporate with its own sheriff and quarter sessions, separating it from the jurisdiction of the Sheriff of Devon.

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. When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 Exeter was considered large enough for its existing corporation to provide county-level services and so it was made a county borough, independent from Devon County Council.

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. Exeter's city status was re-conferred on the reformed district, allowing the council to take the name Exeter City Council. The city's mayor was raised to the status of a lord mayor in 2002.

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.

At the end of 2024, in response to the government encouraging the creation of unitary authorities across the country, the council put forward a motion to bid to become a unitary authority, which was unanimously supported by the council in early 2025. The government's final decision on what form the new unitary authorities may take is awaited.

Governance

Exeter City Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Devon County Council. There are no civil parishes in Exeter; the entire city is an unparished area.

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2012.

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms took effect has been as follows:

Party in control		Years

Leadership

The 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:

Councillor	Party	From	To
Chester Long		1983	1999
title=So long Chester	url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search-newspapers	access-date=30 November 2024	work=Exeter Leader	date=25 November 1999	page=1}}	1999	May 2007
Pete Edwards		15 May 2007	May 2008
Adrian Fullam		13 May 2008	Sep 2010
Pete Edwards		21 Sep 2010	May 2019
Philip Bialyk		14 May 2019

Composition

Following the 2025 by-elections, and subsequent defections, the composition of the council was:

Party	Councillors	Total	39
	22
	7
	4
	2
	2
	2

The Greens and Liberal Democrats sit together as the "Progressive Group". The next election is due in May 2026.

Premises

Civic Centre, Paris Street, Exeter, EX1{{nbsp}}1JN

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.

Elections

Since 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.

Wards and councillors

The wards of the city for City Council purposes are listed below.

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. In January 2025, Cllr Zoë Hughes left the Labour group to sit as an independent over the national party's position on transgender issues. In December 2025, Cllr Alison Sheridan announced her defection to Reform UK.

Ward	Party	Member	Election
Alphington	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Yvonne Atkinson
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Bob Foale	2022
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Rob Harding	2024
Duryard & St James	Liberal Democrats (UK)}}"		Liberal Democrats	Kevin Mitchell
Liberal Democrats (UK)}}"		Liberal Democrats	Michael Mitchell	2023
Liberal Democrats (UK)}}"		Liberal Democrats	Tammy Palmer	2024
Exwick	Labour and Co-operative Party}}"		Labour and Co-operative	Phil Bialyk
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Paul Knott	2022
Labour and Co-operative Party}}"		Labour and Co-operative	Susannah Patrick	2023
Heavitree	Green Party of England and Wales}}"		Green	Carol Bennett
Independent politician}}"		Independent	Lucy Haigh	2024
Green Party of England and Wales}}"		Green	Catherine Rees	2022
Mincinglake & Whipton	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Liz Pole
Reform UK}}"		Reform UK	Tony Payne	2025
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Ruth Williams	2023
Newtown & St Leonards	Green Party of England and Wales}}"		Green	Andy Ketchin
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Matthew Vizard	2022
Green Party of England and Wales}}"		Green	Lynn Wetenhall	2024
Pennsylvania	Independent politician}}"		Independent	Zoë Hughes
Labour and Co-operative Party}}"		Labour and Co-operative	Josie Parkhouse	2022
Labour and Co-operative Party}}"		Labour and Co-operative	Martyn Snow	2023
Pinhoe	Labour and Co-operative Party}}"		Labour and Co-operative	Jakir Hussain
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Mollie Miller-Boam	2023
Labour and Co-operative Party}}"		Labour and Co-operative	Duncan Wood	2022
Priory	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Marina Asvachin
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Jane Begley	2023
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Tony Wardle	2022
St Davids	Green Party of England and Wales}}"		Green	James Banyard
Green Party of England and Wales}}"		Green	Diana Moore	2023
Green Party of England and Wales}}"		Green	Tess Read	2022
St Loyes	Conservative Party (UK)}}"		Conservative	Anne Jobson
Reform UK}}"		Reform UK	Alison Sheridan	2023
Conservative Party (UK)}}"		Conservative	Peter Holland	2022
St Thomas	Labour and Co-operative Party}}"		Labour and Co-operative	Deborah Darling
Liberal Democrats (UK)}}"		Liberal Democrats	Adrian Fullam	2023
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Laura Wright	2022
Topsham	Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Gemma Rolstone
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	James Cookson	2025
Labour Party (UK)}}"		Labour	Matthew Williams	2023

Notes

References

(19 May 2025). "Exeter's new Lord Mayor: Meet Cllr Anne Jobson". Exeter Today.
(14 March 2023). "Exeter City Council appoints new chief executive". BBC News.
McKiernan, Jennifer. (2025-01-22). "Twenty-nine English councils to delay elections, minister confirms". [[BBC News]].
Davis, Miles. (2026-01-18). "Councils abolished and elections cancelled - why?". [[BBC News]].
(1822). "Magna Britannia". T. Cadell & W. Davies.
"Exeter Borough".
[[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]] (5 & 6 Will. 4 c. 76)
"Exeter Municipal Borough / County Borough". GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth.
{{cite legislation UK. (1972)
(1967). "Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map, Sheet SX99".
{{London Gazette. (4 April 1974)
(1 May 2002). "Crown Office".
(20 May 2010). "The Coalition: our programme for government". HM Government, United Kingdom.
Hennessy, Patrick. (22 May 2010). "The Queen's Speech: Bill by Bill". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
(2024-12-21). "Exeter bids for independence in council shake-up".
(10 January 2025). "Plans for Exeter to bid for unitary status backed by councillors". Exeter City Council.
(2025-03-17). "Plan for major expansion of Exeter unveiled".
(21 March 2025). "Councillors back Exeter's submission for local government reorganisation". Exeter City Council.
{{cite legislation UK. (1972)
"Election maps". Ordnance Survey.
(4 May 2007). "English local elections 2007: Exeter". BBC News.
"Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
"From the Grassroots: An oral history of community politics in Devon".
(25 November 1999). "So long Chester". Exeter Leader.
(4 May 2007). "Labour leader loses Exeter seat". BBC News.
"Council minutes, 15 May 2007".
"Council minutes, 13 May 2008".
(10 September 2010). "Labour claim victory in Exeter and Norwich elections". The Guardian.
"Council minutes, 21 September 2010".
(17 April 2019). "Pete Edwards: A fond farewell to the leader of Exeter City Council". Devon Live.
"Council minutes, 14 May 2019".
Redfern, Martin. (1 May 2025). "2025 Exeter City Council by-elections results". Exeter Observer.
(2025-12-10). "Exeter councillor defects from Conservatives to Reform".
"Exeter". Thorncliffe.
{{NHLE
(19 July 2022). "Council agenda, 19 July 2022".
{{cite legislation UK. (2016)
"Your Councillors by Ward". Exter City Council.
(2022-05-14). "Councillor details - Councillor David Harvey".
Jarvis, Chris. (13 January 2025). "Exeter Labour Councillor quits party over trans rights". Bright Green.

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