Devon County Council elections

Devon County Council elections are held every four years in order to elect the members of Devon County Council. Since the last boundary changes in 2017 the council has comprised 60 councillors, representing 58 electoral divisions.^[1] Since 1998, Plymouth and Torbay have been unitary authorities, making them independent of Devon County Council.^[2]

Council elections

Year	Conservative	Liberal Democrats[a]	Labour	Green[b]	Liberal	UKIP	NDM	SDP[c]	Independent	Council control after election
1973[3]	54	11	20	–	–	–	1	–	12		Conservative
1977[3]	85	2	3				1		7		Conservative
1981[3]	65	10	16	0			1		6		Conservative
1985[d][3]	37	36	10	0			0		2		No overall control
1989[3]	55	12	13	0			–	2	3		Conservative
1993[5]	19	39	21	0	1			0	5		No overall control
1997[e][7]	13	31	4	0	2			–	4		Liberal Democrats
2001[8][9]	22	21	5	0	2	0			4		No overall control
2005[f][11][12]	23	33	4	0	0	0			2		Liberal Democrats
2009[13][14]	41	14	4	1	0	0			2		Conservative
2013[15]	38	9	7	1	0	4			3		Conservative
2017[g][16]	42	7	7	1	0	0			3		Conservative
2021[17]	39	9	7	2	–	0			3		Conservative
2025	Upcoming election

County result maps

• 
  2009 results map
• 
  2013 results map
• 
  2017 results map
• 
  2021 results map

By-election results

1993-1997

Plymstock Radford By-Election 7 November 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		796	37.9
	Labour		659	32.5
	Liberal Democrats		599	29.5
Majority			110	5.4
Turnout			2,054	24.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

1997-2001

Honickeknowle By-Election 7 August 1997

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		1,339	61.7	−16.5
	Conservative		414	19.1	−2.8
	Liberal Democrats		345	15.9	+15.9
			72	3.3	+3.3
Majority			925	42.6
Turnout			2,170	23.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Exwick and Cowick By-Election 10 December 1997

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		1,036	59.4	+10.3
	Conservative		336	19.3	−7.0
	Liberal Democrats		282	16.2	−2.7
	Liberal		90	5.2	−0.5
Majority			700	40.1
Turnout			1,744
	Labour hold		Swing

Ilfracombe By-Election 19 February 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		1,163	45.5	+27.5
	Liberal Democrats		700	27.4	−3.9
	Labour		695	27.3	+15.9
Majority			463	18.1
Turnout			2,558	32.0
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Bradnich and Creedy By-Election 31 March 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		1,811	51.0	+7.7
	Liberal Democrats		1,505	42.4	+4.6
	Labour		150	4.2	−5.4
	Liberal		82	2.3	−6.9
Majority			306	8.6
Turnout			3,548	40.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Dawlish By-Election 28 October 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		1,344	46.2	+7.8
	Liberal Democrats		1,291	44.3	+1.4
	Labour		277	9.5	−9.3
Majority			53	1.9
Turnout			2,912	29.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

2001-2005

Ilfracombe By-Election 27 November 2003

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats		756	39.0	+7.9
	Conservative		686	35.4	−2.6
	Independent		318	16.4	+8.9
	Independent		178	9.2	+4.2
Majority			70	3.6
Turnout			1,938	23.6
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Exeter St Davids and Pennsylvania By-Election 26 February 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Hobden	1,330	41.3	+7.3
	Conservative	Jeffrey Coates	1,090	33.8	+3.0
	Labour	Lesley Robson	452	14.0	−13.0
	Independent	Sylvia Hardy	351	10.9	+10.9
Majority			240	7.5
Turnout			3,223	26.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

2005-2009

Yealmpton By-Election 2 March 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Mumford	1,530	49.5	+3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Baldry	1,421	46.0	+3.1
	Labour	David Trigger	140	4.5	+4.5
Majority			109	3.5
Turnout			3,091	35.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Alphington and Cowick By-Election 13 July 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Vanessa Newcombe	1,265	39.3	−4.5
	Conservative	Margaret Baldwin	1,211	37.6	+17.8
	Labour	Allan Hart	568	17.7	−8.7
	Green	Andrew Bell	174	5.4	+0.8
Majority			54	1.7
Turnout			3,218	30.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Exminster and Kenton By-Election 27 November 2008^[18][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Connett	1,969	62.5	+12.1
	Conservative	Francine Tullis	1,182	37.5	+0.4
Majority			787	25.0
Turnout			3,151	42.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

2013-2017

Yealmpton by-election 22 May 2014^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Hosking	2,493	57.9	+6.8
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Blake	1,028	23.9	+6.2
	Labour	David Trigger	706	16.4	+16.4
Majority			1,465	34.0	+1.8
Turnout			4,307	47.6	+11.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

2017-2021

Heavitree and Whipton Barton by-election 24 October 2019^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Greg Sheldon	1032	31.9	−19%
	Conservative	John Harvey	992	30.7	−1%
	Liberal Democrats	Rowena Squires	576	17.8	+11%
	Green	Lizzie Woodman	563	17.4	+11%
	For Britain	Frankie Rufolo	70	2.2	+2.2%
Majority			40	1.2%	−18.7%
Turnout			3,248	30.6	−10.4%
	Labour hold		Swing

Notes

1. Liberal Party, 1973–1981; SDP–Liberal Alliance, 1985.
2. Ecology Party, 1981–1985; Green Party (UK), 1989.
3. Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988–1990), 1989.
4. Boundary changes reduced the number of seats by 13.^[4]
5. The number of seats decreased by 31 due to the removal of Plymouth and Torbay.^[6]
6. Boundary changes increased the number of seats by eight.^[10]
7. Boundary changes reduced the number of seats by two.^[1]