Tories lose two seats on Plymouth City Council

Gains for Labour and the Greens

The gap between Labour and the Conservatives on Plymouth City Council has widened further after two by-elections saw Labour win in Moor View and the Greens take Plympton Chaddlewood.

Both seats being contested in Thursday’s poll had previously been held by Tories.

Will Noble gained the seat for Labour in Moor View with a majority of over 500 and the Greens’ Lauren Elizabeth McLay took Plympton Chaddlewood with a majority of 228. 

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

Turnout in Plympton Chaddlewood was 23.76 percent and in Moor View it was 26.04 percent. 

The election was prompted after the previous councillors stood down following complaints they they had moved out of the area and could no longer serve local residents. 

Dan Collins previously served Plympton Chaddlewood and his wife Shannon Burden was a councillor for Moor View.  

They were both elected as Conservative councillors in May 2021 but now live in Gloucester.

Will Noble said he was delighted to have been elected and added: “I know Labour has a lot to offer people. So, I’ve been listening to local people and being a presence in the in the wards, listening to residents and speaking up for their concerns. 

“There’s a lot of worry and disappointment at the way things have been run and the way things are going and it’s about trying to offer people a bit of hope that actually services and things can improve and that things won’t just get worse.”

Lauren McLay said she felt the election of another Green councillor put the party in a much stronger position. 

“It means that we can hold the administration to account better,” she said. 

“It means that we can scrutinise more. And it also means that we will be able to stand up and present our ideas a little bit more. But ultimately, I just hope that it means that the people that we represent have better representation.”

The Tory group has also been weakened by the resignation of two of its members in the past month.  

Councillor for Ham ward, Stephen Hulme, joined the Independent Alliance (IA) in December and Plympton St Mary councillor, Patrick Nicholson, also left the Tory group earlier this month to join the IA. 

The full results for the by-elections were:  

Plympton Chaddlewood

DAVY Benjamin John  – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition  –  15

GILLBARD Mike –  Liberal Democrat  –  33

GILMOUR Lindsay  – Labour –  147

HILL Andrew Michael  –  Independent  –  182

MCLAY Lauren Elizabeth  –   Green  –  653 

WARD Ashley John  –  Conservative  –  425

Moor View

HARTKOPF Frank  –  Green –  87

JOHNSON Andrea Irene  –  Conservative  –  877

MACKENZIE Colin Alexander  –  Lib Dem –  77

MARSHALL Gavin John Independent 184

NOBLE Will  –  Labour  –  1,415

WHITE Andrew James  –  TUSC  –  18