2005 Devon County Council election

The 2005 Devon County Council election was an election to Devon County Council took place on 5 May 2005 as part of the 2005 United Kingdom local elections. 62 councillors were elected from various electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions had been redrawn since the last election in 2001. No elections were held in Plymouth and Torbay, which are unitary authorities outside the area covered by the County Council.

2005 Devon County Council election
5 May 2005
All 62 seats to Devon County Council[1]
32 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
LD
Con
Lab
Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Labour
Last election 22 seats, 35.8% 22 seats, 37.4% 4 seats, 16.7%
Seats won 33 23 4
Seat change 12[note 1] 1[note 1] 1
Popular vote 142,414 142,732 44,813
Percentage 38.0% 38.0% 11.9%
Swing 2.1% 0.6% 4.6%
Reference [2][3] [2][3] [2][3]
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Ind
Lib
Party Independent Liberal
Last election 3 seats, 6.1% 3 seats, 2.0%
Seats won 2 0
Seat change 1 3
Popular vote 16,692 4,300
Percentage 4.4% 1.1%
Swing 1.7% 0.9%
Reference [2][3] [2][3]
Council control before election

No overall control

 Council control after election

Liberal Democrat

All locally registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on election day were entitled to vote in the local elections.

Summary

The election saw the Liberal Democrats regained control of the council, which had last been under Liberal Democrat control after the 1997 election, but had been under no overall control since the 2001 election.[1] The Conservative Party gained only one seat, despite the increase in the number of seats from 54 to 62 after redistricting, becoming the second-largest party on the council and therefore the official opposition party. The Liberal Party lost all three of its seats in the election, while the Independent grouping lost one seat. The Gallagher index for the election, which measures the disproportionality of seat allocation, was 11.94.[note 3]

Results
Devon County Council election, 2005[3][5]
Party Seats Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Liberal Democrats 33 12 53.2 38.0 142,414
  Conservative 23 1 37.1 38.0 142,732
  Labour 4 1 6.5 11.9 44,813
  Independent 2 2 3.2 4.4 16,692
  UKIP 0 0.0 3.9 14,643
  Green 0 0.0 2.5 9,539
  Liberal 0 2 0.0 1.1 4,300

Electoral division results
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Barnstaple North[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Brian Greenslade 3,411 56.8
Conservative John Gill 1305 21.7
Labour Annie Brenton 720 12.0
Green Earl Bramley-Howard 572 9.5
Majority 2106 35.1
Turnout 6008 59.8
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Barnstaple South[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Christopher Haywood 3,116 50.4
Conservative David Brailey 1999 32.3
Green Robert Cornish 596 9.6
Independent Terence Bawden 474 7.7
Majority 1117 18.1
Turnout 6185 63.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Bideford East[6][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Hugo Barton 2,613 47.5
Ind. Conservative Christopher Leather 1891 34.4
Labour David Brenton 1001 18.2
Majority 722 13.1
Turnout 5505 62.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Braunton Rural[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jennifer Jenkins 2,325 36.6
Conservative Jasmine Chesters 2250 35.4
Independent Charles Piper 610 9.6
Green Michael Harrison 607 9.5
Labour Danny Neary 566 8.9
Majority 75 1.2
Turnout 6358 68.2
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Chulmleigh and Swimbridge[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Frederick Tucker 3,209 46.0
Conservative Richard Edgell 2848 40.8
Green Ian Godfrey 915 13.1
Majority 361 5.2
Turnout 6972 73.2
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Combe Martin Rural[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Vivienne Davis 2,522 44.7
Liberal Democrats Derrick Spear 2414 42.8
Green Jon Hooper 706 12.5
Majority 108 1.9
Turnout 5642 69.4
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Fremington Rural[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Rodney Cann 2,758 50.0
Independent David Jury 1765 32.0
Green Linda Mack 997 18.1
Majority 993 18.0
Turnout 5520 68.5
Conservative hold Swing
Ilfracombe[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Geoffrey Fowler 2,132 42.0
Conservative Paul Crabb 1783 35.1
Independent Ivan Frances 716 14.1
Green Franklin Pearson 443 8.7
Majority 349 6.9
Turnout 5074 57.8
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
South Molton Rural[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jeremy Yabsley 3,042 49.2
Liberal Democrats Susan Sewell 2472 40.0
Green Jacqueline Morningmist 664 10.7
Majority 570 9.2
Turnout 6178 72.1
Conservative hold Swing

Notes
  1. Seats changes since the 2001 election are skewed by the increase of the number of council seats from 54 to 62 at the 2005 election
  2. For this election, the Gallagher Index can be worked out as:
    Party % of votes % of seats difference difference
    squared
    Liberal Democrats 38.0 53.2 15.2 231.04
    Conservatives 38.0 37.1 -0.9 0.81
    Labour 11.9 6.5 -5.4 29.16
    Independent 4.4 3.2 -1.2 1.44
    UKIP 3.9 0.0 -3.9 15.21
    Green 2.5 0.0 -2.5 6.25
    Liberal 1.1 0.0 -1.1 1.21
    Other 0.02 0.0 -0.02 0.0004
    total of squares of differences 285.1204
    total / 2 142.5602
    square root of (total / 2) 11.93986
  3. A lower value indicates a more proportional outcome in the election; historically, UK general elections have had a value of around 16.[4] The Gallagher index is worked out using the formula:
    where is the percent of votes and is the percent of seats for each of the parties ().[note 2]

References
  1. "Local election results: Devon LD GAIN FROM NOC". BBC. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  2. "ELECTORAL WARD 2001". Devon County Council. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  3. "Devon County Council Elections 2005 Results". Devon County Council. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  4. "Electoral systems across the UK". Institute for Government. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  5. "Previous election results". Devon County Council. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  6. "Devon County Council Election Results 1973-2009" (PDF). Elections Centre. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  7. "Devon County Council full election 5 May 2005". North Devon Council. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  8. "ELECTION RESULTS COUNTY COUNCIL ELECTION Date : 5th May 2005". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
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