Political Composition
In Devon, most county councillors who are elected have been nominated by one of England's major political parties, although there are also a small number of independents. At present well over half of the councillors in the chamber are Conservatives, who hold 41 of the 62 seats. The council currently operates the local government Cabinet system which was introduced by the Local Government Act 2000, with the Leader of the Cabinet (and effective head of the authority) elected by the full council. In practice, the Leader is chosen from among the majority Conservative group. After being elected, the Leader chooses the other cabinet members, currently nine, all from the Conservative group.
The Liberal Democrats have the second highest number of councillors, with fourteen, while there are five Labour members, of whom four represent county divisions in Exeter. There are two independent members; the Green Party did have one councillor, who later switched to the Labour group.
| Devon County Council election, 2009 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | ||
| Conservative | 41 | +18 | 66.1 | 41.9 | 106,411 | |||||
| Liberal Democrat | 14 | -19 | 22.6 | 29.9 | 75,815 | |||||
| Labour | 4 | 0 | 6.5 | 6.1 | 15,339 | |||||
| Independent | 2 | 0 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 11,768 | |||||
| Green | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 1.6 | 6.8 | 17,290 | |||
Read more about this topic: Devon County Council
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“It is my PRIDE, my damn’d, native, unconquerable Pride, that plunges me into Distraction. You must know that 19-20th of my Composition is Pride. I must either live a Slave, a Servant; to have no Will of my own, no Sentiments of my own which I may freely declare as such;Mor DIE—perplexing alternative!”
—Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770)