Conservative Lee Mason has ensured his party held onto an Exmouth seat in a hotly-contested by-election.
Councillor Mason, who stood in the Brixington by-election after Cherry Nicholas vacated the role, beat three other candidates in the poll.
His 537 votes meant he held onto the seat for the party, ahead of second-placed Andrew Coleman (450 votes), who stood for the Liberal Democrats, Paul Thomas of Reform UK (439 votes) and the Green Party’s Mike Rosser (101 votes).
Out of 6,168 eligible voters in the Brixington ward, just 1,529 people voted, making a turnout figure of just under a quarter (24 per cent).
Cllr Mason said he thought that “listening to the people” had helped him bag the seat.
“I’ve made sure to go around the area and speak to people, knock on their doors and finding out about the things that concern them,” he said.
As someone from Brixington, who attended the primary and junior schools there, Cllr Mason said it was “delightful” to be serving the people in the area he grew up in.
He cited Dinan Way as a key issue he wanted to tackle, calling the existing road an outdated design for the pressure of the town now.
While an updated Dinan Way – overseen by Devon County Council – is entering the latter stages, Cllr Mason said issues with the road “started before I was born and it still isn’t completed”.
He also highlighted water quality as an issue he wanted to help try and address given he swims in the sea frequently.
“It’s horrific having sewage in the sea where we swim, and while the tourism industry is often touched upon as being impacted – and that is important – it’s also the people who live here who want to enjoy the water without any problems,” he said.
David Reed MP, the Conservative member for Exmouth & Exeter East, said Cllr Mason had “worked tirelessly” throughout the campaign.
“He has proved that there is no substitute for hard work, dedication and genuine local engagement,” Mr Reed said.
“He is a proud Conservative, as am I, and throughout this campaign he has shown that our party is getting back to its roots: listening to local people, putting in the hard yards, and earning people’s trust.”
Councillor Mike Goodman (Conservative, Sidmouth Sidford), who already sits on East Devon District Council, said it was a “great result”.
He described Cllr Mason as a “great local candidate”.
“All the candidates in the election worked hard but I’d say Lee worked extremely so,” he said.
“It’s great to have another Conservative colleague on the council, and while our party did already hold the seat [through Cllr Nicholas], by-elections are strange things and it could have gone another way.
“Good planning and campaigning made a real difference, and a focus on localism and talking to people really helped.”
Cllr Mason, who has previously served as a councillor in Portsmouth, said he was looking forward to getting stuck into his new role as an East Devon District Council member.
Portsmouth was a unitary council when he served there, something that could be useful as Devon undergoes a reorganisation to replace its existing two-tier system with a unitary one.
Unitary councils are responsible for all services within their boundary, unlike in most of Devon now where a district oversees the likes of planning and waste collections, but a county council looks after adult social care and roads within the same area.
This change means that Cllr Mason – and all of his East Devon colleagues – will only have about two years in office before Devon’s four new mega councils are launched.
Elections for those are due to take place in May next year, with the selected councillors beginning in the new authorities in April 2028.
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