Nicholas David Bye, commonly known as Nick Bye, is a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

local politician in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Bye was born in

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and graduated from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He was

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate for

Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

in the 1987 election. Bye served on

Torbay Council Torbay Council is the local authority of Torbay in Devon, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Ta ...

for five years and served a term as civic mayor in 2003–04. In October 2005, he became the first directly elected mayor of Torbay. He beat

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

Nicholas Pannell in the second round of counting with a total of 7,096 votes to Pannell's 5,197. After the election, Bye noted that "it is quite clear from canvassing that a lot of people did not want an elected mayor." Bye was the Conservative Party's third directly elected mayor, after Chris Morgan and

Linda Arkley Linda Arkley is a British Conservative politician who served as the elected Mayor of North Tyneside from 2003 to 2005 and from 2009 to 2013. Early life Arkley attended The Bede School in Sunderland, and studied at both Sunderland University ...

North Tyneside North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend. North Tyneside is bordered b ...

and the first directly elected mayor in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. In 2008 fellow Conservative

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

was elected as the first Conservative mayor of London. Bye was one of three contenders for the Totnes Conservative candidacy, after the announcement by

Anthony Steen Anthony David Steen CBE (born 22 July 1939) is a former British Conservative Party politician and barrister. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 2010, and the Chairman of the Human Trafficking Foundation. Having represented Totnes i ...

that he will not stand in the next election. He placed third in the Totnes primary, and defeated by

Sarah Wollaston Sarah Wollaston (born 17 February 1962) is a British former Liberal Democrat politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Totnes from 2010 to 2019. First elected for the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, she later served as ...

. Bye was the subject of a complaint to Torbay Council's standards committee in August 2010, over the proposed development of a large housing estate on land currently being occupied by Churston Golf Club. This complaint relates to his interests in Eric Lloyd & Co Estate Agents, the only estate agency business with an office in Churston. In 2006 Bye registered the fact that he had a financial interest in the company, and council documents have also shown he is entitled to a profit related bonus from the company. On 12 November 2010 Bye confirmed that he will be seeking to stand as Mayor of Torbay for a further 4 years however he was deselected by the Conservative Party in favour of former independent candidate, Gordon Oliver, and stood for re-election as an independent. He failed to secure re-election in May 2011, losing to his Conservative opponent Gordon Oliver. In December 2014 it was announced that Nicholas Bye has rejoined the Conservative Party and is standing for election to Torbay Council for the Wellswood ward in the upcoming 2015 local elections.

References

External links

Official profileBBC News

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bye, Nicholas Mayors of places in Devon Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in South West England People from Paignton Living people 1960 births Conservative Party (UK) mayors