Background
History
Plymouth City Council held local elections, along with councils across England as part of the 2022 local elections. The council elects its councillors in thirds, with a third of seats being up for election every year for three years, with no election each fourth year to correspond with councillors' four-year terms. Councillors defending their seats in this election were previously elected inDevelopments since 2022
Defections and suspensions
In October 2022, Kelly was again suspended from the Conservative group after "complaints and allegations" were made against him. He resigned from the group on 15 October, complaining that he had been deselected and accusing Bingley of a "vile, defamatory, and inaccurate outburst against me and fellow councillors". His resignation meant that the council returned to no overall control only five months after the Conservatives had held a majority of the seats. Later that month, Kelly formed an independent group on the council called the Independent Alliance with the former Conservative councillor Terri Beer and the former Labour councillor Chaz Singh. The Conservative councillor Maddi Bridgeman, who had recently had complaints upheld against Bingley in an independent investigation, was suspended from the Conservative group in the same month. In December, the councillor Stephen Hulme left the Conservative group to sit as an independent councillor, saying "I don't think the council listens to the people of Plymouth". He joined Kelly's Independent Alliance group later that month. In January 2023, another Conservative councillor, Patrick Nicholson, left his party to join the Independent Alliance in protest against the proposed council budget and not being reselected as a candidate for the 2023 elections. Bridgman left the Conservative Party in January, saying that her local party had " harassed, bullied, and publicly humiliated" her because she was a woman. A report into her from the Conservative association said that her claims of sexism "amount to unbefitting conduct".January 2023 by-elections
Two Conservative councillors, Dan Collins and Shannon Burden, moved from Plymouth to Gloucestershire in May 2022. Labour councillors called on them to resign while Bingley said he was "confident that they are doing their job as councillors" and that he was "comfortable with the situation". In November 2022, the council passed a motion proposed by Beer calling on them to resign immediately. They resigned, saying that they had previously planned to stay until the 2023 elections. By-elections took place on 12 January 2023. Independent by-election candidates Gavin Marshall and Andrew Hill said they would join the Independent Alliance group if they were successful. The Moor View by-election was won by the Labour candidate, Will Noble, a cleaner at Derriford Hospital. The Plympton Chaddlewood by-election was won by the Green candidate, Lauren McLay, a communications specialist. Bingley blamed his party's losses on national politics, and declined to resign. The BBC journalist Ewan Murrie wrote that the Labour group would be "unlikely to call a no confidence vote before the May elections".Armada Way tree felling
Since 2017, the council had been preparing for regeneration work along Armada Way, a major commercial street in the city centre. The plans would create public meeting places, areas of wildflowers, a cycle lane and new seating. They also required cutting down mature trees along the road, with more being planted than would be initially removed. After opposition from group Save the Trees of Armada Way (Straw) opposed to tree felling, the council announced an additional one-week consultation. A majority of responses to the consultation opposed the plan, but the council said that most opposition did not include a reason and that the numbers were increased by activism from Straw. The council leader Richard Bingley said that the public supported the scheme, saying it would make the road safer and provide better drainage. During the night of 14 March, contractors cut down 110 mature trees after Bingley signed an executive order to approve the work. Sixteen more had been planned to be cut down, but the work had to be stopped after a judge "granted an injunction against the tree felling" requested by Straw. One of Straw's lawyers said that the group wanted to preserve the stumps of felled trees as "we view them as living trees still". The council said it would dispute the injunction. The injunction was upheld pending judicial review of the decision-making process, preventing the council from cutting down any remaining trees but allowing the council to remove the trees that had been felled "under expert advice and with Straw involved". Bingley said that there should be a public inquiry into the regeneration scheme, suggesting that Labour and Green Party politicians should share responsibility for decisions about it. He accused Labour and the Green Party of "political extremism" for their opposition to the felling. On 22 March, the Independent Alliance and Green Party group both called for Bingley to resign, with the latter proposing a vote of no confidence. Later that day, he announced that he would resign as leader of the Conservative group on the following Monday. The two Conservative MPs whose constituencies include parts of Plymouth City Council,Campaign
Statements of persons nominated were published on 5 April listing all validly nominated candidates. To hold a majority of seats after the election, the Conservatives need to win thirteen out of the nineteen seats up for election, while Labour need to win twelve. Labour activists said they were confident they would be able to win at least twelve seats. Mark Shayer, who took over as acting leader of the council after Bingley resigned, said he would not seek re-election as Conservative group leader after the council election. The Labour group leader Tudor Evans said that the Conservative administration felling trees in the city centre was not one of the issues raised most often by voters, who wre instead focused on the cost of living, particularly food and energy prices. He said that a Labour council would increase the number of trees, wildflowers and greenery in the city centre alongside "economic diversification". The Conservative candidate and former councillor Andrea Johnson said that most voters who bring up the cost of living were grateful for government support. ACouncil composition
Candidates
Candidates are listed below. Incumbent councillors are marked with an asterisk (*), except councillors running in a new ward who are marked with a dagger (†). Candidates for the Independent Alliance are listed on ballots as independent candidates but are marked here as "Ind. Alliance".Budshead
Compton
Devonport
Drake
Efford and Lipson
Eggbuckland
Ham
Honicknowle
Moor View
Peverell
Plympton Erle
Plympton St Mary
Plymstock Dunstone
Plymstock Radford
Southway
St Budeaux
St Peter and the Waterfront
Stoke
Sutton and Mount Gould
Notes
References
{{2023 United Kingdom local elections Plymouth City Council election Plymouth City Council elections 2020s in Devon