Media made in Exeter Upgrade to paid
SUNDAY 31 MAY 2026
Vintage items, handmade gifts and baked goods from local traders with wellbeing activities including yoga, crafts and hula-hooping.
THE BIRDHOUSE
Exeter Observer is produced by a non-profit newsroom with two staff: Leigh Curtis and Martin Redfern.
We have so far published more than 1,000 news stories, features, investigations, community and culture previews, galleries, newsletters and special reports.
We work half of the week as volunteers and keep overheads low, serving 2.5 million page views a year to 60,000 regular readers on a tiny budget.
If you think what we do is good for our city please upgrade to a paid Exeter Observer subscription from less than £2/week.
165 of the 300 paying subscribers we need to break even have signed up so far.
We can get there with your support. We hope you'll join us today.
The votes cast for each candidate with vote share and party vote share change in each ward plus turnout, postal votes and the distribution of seats.
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Our guide to casting your ballot in person, by post and by proxy as well as voter ID requirements and regulations for casting postal votes.
Send us campaign materials as this year’s contest enters its final week so we can fact-check candidates’ claims and hold them to their pledges after the votes have been counted.
Council leader Phil Bialyk celebrates rapid Exeter population rise but fails to mention think-tank findings on falling disposable incomes, declining living standards, low wages and unaffordable housing – or impact of student numbers on population figures.
Defiant Phil Bialyk says Exeter election results are vote of confidence in party which will propose own portfolio holders, leader and deputy at May annual meeting.
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City council elections take place on Thursday 7 May. Our comprehensive guide covers who’s standing where, wards to watch and the backdrop to this year’s ballot, which looks set to end fourteen years of Labour majority control over the city.
Public consultation on changes explores possibility of closing some branches altogether despite claims to the contrary while Libraries Unlimited contract extension decision scheduled for six weeks before consultation ends.
Complex of seven blocks up to six storeys tall on site of police station and magistrates court to bring purpose-built temporary accommodation tally to 3,250 beds in Newtown alone – while failing to meet local plan minimum building separation policy.
Green Party call for “co-operative council” to “put people before politics” ignored despite opposition councillors holding balance of power.
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Labour councillors plumb new depths to cling to power – and personal financial gain – as government-backed contempt for democracy enables seven of eight executive members to avoid ballots in their wards until council abolition in 2028.
Council land disposal to include rights to lay underground distribution pipework across River Exe floodplain following “low-to-zero carbon” Grace Road Fields heat plant planning approval in face of Environment Agency sequential test concerns.
Rejection of voluntary and community sector calls for more inclusive response follows thirteen-year council failure to comply with legal duties under crime and disorder legislation in relation to Exeter Community Safety Partnership.
Exeter Observer analysis finds more students living in city centre than residents as council bid to include PBSA in housing delivery figures weakens local planning policy – but does not remove it from decision-making altogether.
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Five gas boilers to provide 80% of “low-to-zero carbon” Grace Road Fields plant generation capacity for distribution to institutional consumers through privately-run 13-mile underground network expected to take ten years to complete.
Charges for waterways access are set to be imposed from the quay and canal basin to the coast under proposed Harbour Revision Order powers after six years of rising costs propelled by pursuit of Port Marine Safety Code compliance. They risk driving away craft of all sizes, from kayaks to yachts, while redevelopment threatens canalside land – but it’s not too late to change course.
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Leigh Curtis is deputy editor of Exeter Observer and a director of its publisher Exeter Observer Limited.
She writes most of our community and culture stories as well as news reports and contributes to features and investigations.
Leigh holds a degree in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London. She leads on marketing and also manages our finances and administration.
She is an accredited UK press card holder and a member of the National Union of Journalists.
Martin Redfern is Exeter Observer’s editor and a director of its publisher Exeter Observer Limited.
He writes many of our news stories and features, leads on investigations and maintains the Exeter Observer website.
Martin holds a masters degree in Journalism with distinction at Birkbeck, University of London.
He is an accredited UK press card holder and a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists and the Society of Editors.
