Elections 2023: Candidates announced for East Devon and town and parish councils

Candidates for the upcoming East Devon District Council and town and parish council elections on May 4 have been announced. 

At district level, it is set to be one of the competitive elections in several years, with all seats being contested.

But at the lower level of local government it is another story – only four parish council elections will be contested across East Devon, with 73 uncontested and 6 parishes without any nominations.

There are five town council wards where an election will take place.

Axminster Town Council will not hold an election as only 12 candidates came forward for 15 seats.

Seaton Town Council will see an election, as will the new parish council formed in Colyford – while Colyton, from which is split, is uncontested.

East Devon District Council

East Devon District Council candidates for wards across the Axe Valley are as follows:

AXMINSTER

Three seats available

• Ian Hall - Conservative
• Paul Hayward - Independent
• Steven Holt - Conservative
• Sarah Jackson - Independent
• Gillian Jordan - Liberal Democrats
• Simon Smith - Independent
• Jeremy Walden - Labour
• David Willey - Conservative

BEER & BRANSCOMBE

One seat available

• Peter Burrows- Liberal Democrats
• Maria Hall - Conservative
• John Heath- Independent

COLY VALLEY

Two seats available

• Paul Arnott - Liberal Democrats
• Helen Parr - Conservative
• John Tristram - Conservative

SEATON

Three seats available

• Honey Barlow Marshall - Labour
• Derek Haggerty - Conservative
• Marcus Hartnell - Conservative
• Steve Hunt - Liberal Democrats
• Daniel Ledger - Independent

TRINITY

One seat available

• Andrew Turner - Conservative
• Susan Westerman - Liberal Democrats

YARTY

One seat available

• Duncan Mackinder - Liberal Democrats
• Richard Norman- Conservative
• Duncan Staddon - Green Party

Notably, some long-standing district councillors are not seeking re-election, including Axminster's Conservative member, Cllr Andrew Moulding; Cllr Geoff Pook, independent for Beer and Branscombe; Independent East Devon Alliance member, Cllr Jack Rowland, for Seaton; and independent chair of the council, Cllr Ian Thomas, for Trinity ward.

Current Yarty ward councillor Paul Hayward will be standing in Axminster instead.

Leader of the council, Paul Arnott, has announced he will be switching from the East Devon Independent Alliance to the Liberal Democrats.

Town and parish councils

Candidates for town and parish councils across the Axe Valley, most of which are uncontested, are as follows:

ALL SAINTS

Five seats available (uncontested)

• Alistair Forbes
• Thomas Galvin
• Gary Hall
• Janet Verplancke

AXMOUTH

Nine seats available (uncontested)

• Ronald Badger
• Nigel Daniel
• Jane Drown
• Graham Mather
• Jay Wiseman
• Paul Zisman

AXMINSTER

15 seats available (uncontested)

• Andrew Bourne
• Kara Burrough
• Jill Farrow
• Terence Langdon
• Sara Leat
• Becky Lippett
• Liz Paice
• Bernie Steadman
• Jeremy Walden
• Alfie Brooker
• David Willey
• Sarah Birnie

BEER

11 seats available (uncontested)

• Peter Anderson
• Adam Brewer
• Rick Dormor
• James Green
• Sean Greig
• John Heath
• Brian Potter
• Martin Richards
• Martin Shobrook
• Tim Stevens
• Mo Westlake

CHARDSTOCK

Six seats available (uncontested)

• Frederick Eames
• Pauline Greer
• Sheila Hughes
• Michelle Reeve
• Lavinia Sonnenberg
• Caroline Wilson

COLYFORD

Seven seats available

• Neil Anderson
• Gilly Girling
• Eddie Jones
• Sheree Manton
• Ian Priestley
• Adrian Slade
• Michael Watt
• Tim Wheeler

COLYTON

11 seats available (uncontested)

• Paul Arnott
• Kenneth Clifford
• Joy Gardiner
• John Hay
• Mark Mann
• Andrew Parr
• Steve Real
• Alison Stenning
• Rodney Turner

COMBPYNE/ROUDSDON

Nine seats available (uncontested)

• Suzanne Bryan
• Lynn Littler
• Bil Moore
• Martin Platts
• Glynis Preshaw
• Kevin Salter
• Rob Warner
• Nicholas Wright

DALWOOD

Seven seats available (uncontested)

• Tony Benger
• Timothy Hodges
• Katherine Laing
• Peter Lawrence
• Graham Perry
• Benjamin Trott
• Christine Wyatt

HAWKCHURCH

Nine seats available (uncontested)

• Julie Baker
• Susan Bartlett
• Moe Dodson
• Timothy Greenshields
• Ann Nolan
• David Searle

KILMINGTON

Nine seats available (uncontested)

• Peter Ball
• Nicky Bayley
• Andrew Collier
• Arnold Dare
• Mark Jones
• Olivia Miller
• Beverley Reed
• Stafford Seward
• Kieran Veberth

MEMBURY

Nine seats available (uncontested)

• Deborah Burrough
• Daniel Lazar
• Richard Male
• Paul Nicholson
• David Moyes
• Ben Pearse
• Phil Pearse
• John Steadman

MUSBURY

Seven seats available (uncontested)

• Colin Corbett
• Matthew Cracker
• Peter Perryman

SEATON

12 seats available

• Kenneth Beer
• Eric Bowman
• Karen Brooks
• Peter Burrows
• Del Haggerty
• Marcus Hartnell
• Dan Ledger
• Angela Mendham
• Dyke Neil (uncontested in Beer Road ward)
• Jack Russell
• Amrik Singh
• RichardWebster
• Cheryl Wood

SHUTE AND WHITFORD

Eight seats available (uncontested)

• Mike James
• Richard Orsman
• David Plowman
• Cliff Scrasse
• Ella Sweetland
• Mary Thomas
• Martin Williams

SOUTHLEIGH

5 seats available (uncontested)

• No candidates nominated

UPLYME

10 seats available (uncontested)

• Paulene Frost
• Pete Hackett
• Chris James
• Paul Oakley
• Colin Pratt
• William Trundley
• Andrew Turner
• Claire Wiscombe

A full list of all candidates across the whole of East Devon is available at https://eastdevon.gov.uk/elections-and-registering-to-vote/election-information/election-documents/

Axminster and Seaton Nub News will be contacting all the above candidates in contested areas and offering them the opportunity to provide a statement in the run-up to the election on May 4. 

Election candidates can get in touch to discuss this by emailing [email protected]

You must register to vote by April 17.

Voting will take place at local polling stations on May 4 and electors should note they will require a specific type of ID to vote this year.

You can find out more about the registering to vote, the correct types of ID needed to vote, and elections at https://eastdevon.gov.uk/elections-and-registering-to-vote/