The Devizes Guardians are a local political party based in

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between ...

, Wiltshire, England. The party was formed in 2001 and has been successful in winning seats on Kennet District Council and

Wiltshire Council Wiltshire Council is a council for the unitary authority of Wiltshire (excluding the separate unitary authority of Swindon) in South West England, created in 2009. It is the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council (1889–2009) and the ...

, but at present is represented only on Devizes Town Council, which from May 2013 it controls.

History

The Devizes Guardians were formed in 2001, in the aftermath of the felling of five

London plane London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

trees in the Devizes

Market Place A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...

,Guardians win their first seat on council
from ''Wiltshire Gazette & Herald'', 25 July 2002
Thursday 8 May 2003, article online at gazetteandherald.co.uk and on 19 June 2002 the new party was registered with the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

under the

Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 The Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 (c. 48), is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made legal provision to set up a register of political parties in the United Kingdom. Previously there had been no such register, and ...

. On 18 July 2002 the Devizes Guardians contested and won a Kennet District Council by-election in the Devizes East ward, the successful candidate being Tony Duck, who commented "I think there is a movement for more grass roots representation, free from the shackles of party politics and hopefully enabling us to challenge local issues." At the Kennet district elections of May 2003, the party contested three seats, all in Devizes, and won all three, its successful candidates being Nigel Carter (Devizes North), Jeffrey Ody (Devizes South), and Tony Duck (Devizes East). Carter commented to a Wiltshire newspaper "We have to acknowledge there is an element of

protest vote A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms a ...

in the support we have had. The question of the future of the hospital has been paramount in the issues expressed by the people we have talked to, with transport coming a close second." At the May 2005 county council elections, the party contested two divisions of

Wiltshire County Council Wiltshire County Council (established in 1889) was the county council of Wiltshire in the South West of England, an elected local Government body responsible for most local government services in the county. As a result of the 2009 restructur ...

, Devizes North and Devizes South, its candidates being Carter and Ody, but was unsuccessful in both. In the Kennet District Council elections of May 2007, the Guardians won two seats (Ody and Duck being re-elected, but Carter being defeated) and also three on Devizes Town Council, to which Jane Burton, Ted East, and Peter Smith were elected.Welcome to the web site of The Devizes Guardians
at devizesguardians.com In that year, the party reported to the Electoral Commission that it had 56 members and that its income and expenditure were both under £2000. On 1 April 2009, the District of Kennet was abolished as part of the

2009 structural changes to local government in England Structural changes to local government in England were effected on 1 April 2009, whereby a number of new unitary authorities were created in parts of the country which previously operated a "two-tier" system of counties and districts. In five s ...

, and the Devizes Guardians contested four seats in the first elections to the new

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

held on 4 June 2009. Its three successful candidates were Ody (Devizes and Roundway South), Carter (Devizes North), and Jane Burton (Devizes East).Unitary election results '09
at wiltshire.gov.uk At an annual general meeting held on 27 October 2009, the party celebrated its successes and stressed the importance of a new public consultation on

planning policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

for Wiltshire. At the local elections on 2 May 2013, the Devizes Guardians won more than half the seats on Devizes Town Council, nine out of seventeen, defeating candidates from all three major English parties. However, at the same time they lost all of their places on Wiltshire Council to the Conservatives. The registered emblems of the party represent a tree, and it has been called the "local conservation party".

Officers

The party's registered officers are as follows: *''Leader'': Mr Nigel Carter *''Nominating Officer'': Mr Edward William East *''Treasurer'': Peter Corbett

Wiltshire Council elections, 2009

At the Wiltshire Council elections of 4 June 2009, the party contested four divisions and won three.

References

External links

Your Town Councillors
at devizes-tc.gov.uk {{British political parties Political parties established in 2001 Locally based political parties in England Politics of Wiltshire Devizes 2001 establishments in England

History

Officers

Wiltshire Council elections, 2009

See also

References

External links