Labour not looking to control Plymouth - yet

Party reaction after winning majority of seats

Plymouth council’s Labour leader says Conservative losses in Thursday’s by-elections show voters have “had enough of the Tory government.” 

But Cllr Tudor Evans, who represents Ham Ward, also insists he is not looking to become leader of the council ahead of May’s local elections, despite his party now having more councillors than the Tories. 

Will Noble gained Moor View for Labour with a majority of 538 while the Greens’ Lauren McLay took Plympton Chaddlewood with a majority of 228. 

Both seats had previously been held by Conservative councillors. 

Labour now has the most seats on the council with 25, followed by the Tories who have 23.  Independent Alliance has five councillors, the Greens have three and there is one other independent.  However, no party has an overall majority. 

Cllr Evans said the by-election showed a major shift away from the Conservatives on both the council and in parliament. 

“A 17 percent swing from Conservative to Labour is also an indication that something else is happening,” he said. “And what that is, is that people in the area have had enough of their Tory MP, they’ve had enough of the Tory government and they want to see change and they want to see big change.”

But despite having two more council seats than the Conservatives, Cllr Evans suggested it was not the time to change the leadership. 

“We need a proper election with all the wards up and then we can settle this question properly,” he said.

“What do local people want? It’s looking more and more like they want to vote for Labour candidates and they’ll get that chance in May.”

Labour failed to win in Plympton Chaddlewood where Lauren McLay boosted the size of the Green group to three but Cllr Evans suggested the Green gain was not as significant as Labour’s win in Moor View.

“I think in Chaddlewood – which was a much smaller election, of course – the winning candidate got half of what the winning candidate in Moor View had,” he explained. “And actually the issues were different there. It was building on the gains that had been made the previous year. 

“So, we’ve still got some work to do, in Chaddlewood.”

He suggested a shift away from the Tories was the most significant result from the by-elections. 

“What I would say is it’s very worrying for the Conservatives that their heartlands are now no longer their heartlands,” he said,

However, Conservative leader and councillor for Southway, Richard Bingley, rejected the suggestion voters were turning their backs on the Tories. 

“We see this as probably quite typical of a midterm government,” he said. “So, it’s not unusual. 

“I think the result [tonight] does mean, obviously, that the configuration of Plymouth Council changes slightly. But we’re all adults and we will all have discussions. And I’m really optimistic that Plymouth is going to push forward.”

The election was triggered after the previous councillors, Tories Dan Collins and Shannon Burden, stood down following complaints they they had moved to Gloucester and could no longer serve local residents. 

Plymouth’s 57 member council is now made up of:

Conservative – 23
Labour – 25
The Independent Alliance – 5
Green – 3
Independent – 1