Local elections 2024 – Who’s voting, when are they voting, and who are they voting for?

More than 30 Devon council seats will be up for grabs in local elections at the beginning of May.

Voters will also go to the polls to choose a new police commissioner.
There had been speculation that a general election would also be called on Thursday 2 May, but the deadline for that has now passed and prime minister Rishi Sunak will wait until later in the year before calling an election. Voters in Devon have already started receiving polling cards for local elections.
A third of council seats on Exeter City Council will be up for grabs as the authority works on a cycle which sees a third of seats contested each year for three years, with no election in the fourth.
No other Devon councils are going to the polls in May, although the term of office for Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez also comes to an end and there will be an election for that role.
In Exeter, one seat in each of the council’s 13 wards will be contested. Eight members of the ruling Labour administration have their terms of office ending, along with two Conservatives, two Independents and two Greens.
Among the notable councillors who will have to seek re-election if they want to stay on the council is Labour leader Phil Bialyk, who represents Exwick and has led the council since 2019. Conservative group leader Anne Jobson (St Loyes) is also up for re-election, as is Tory deputy leader Andrew Leadbetter, who represents Topsham.
Labour currently has an overall majority on the council, with 23 of the 39 seats. The Green Party is the next largest group with six seats, followed by the Conservatives with four, Liberal Democrats with three and two Independents.  But the Greens, independents and Liberal Democrats are in an alliance called the Progressive Group, which forms the council’s official opposition. One seat in Mincinglake and Whipton is currently vacant.
Whatever happens on election day, Labour will stay in control of the city. However, in theory, the party could lose its overall majority.

The office of Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner has been held by Conservatives since it was first created to replace the two counties’ police authority in November 2012.
Ms Hernandez has held the post since May 2016 when she succeeded Tony Hogg. Voters in all polls will need to take photo ID to the polling stations with them. This could include a passport; photographic driving licence; a blue badge or a senior bus pass. Young people’s travel passes are not valid. Original documents are required, not copies or scanned images.
Key dates in the build-up to the elections are: Friday 5 April – deadline for nomination papers to be handed in; Tuesday 16 April – applications to register to vote must be in; Wednesday 17 April – applications, amendments or cancellations of postal votes and amendments or cancellations of proxy votes must reach the electoral registration officer; Thursday 2 May – election day.