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NEWS
Reform UK takes Mincinglake & Whipton from Labour in Exeter City Council by-elections
Labour holds Topsham by just 28 votes as party polls only 0.25% above Reform across both wards.
Martin Redfern
Reform UK has taken Mincinglake & Whipton from Labour in Exeter City Council by-elections that also saw the party hold Topsham by just 28 votes as its vote share fell to only 0.25% above Reform across both wards.
Tony Payne won Mincinglake & Whipton with just under 35% of the vote while Labour’s vote share fell to less than 28%, down from nearly 62% two years ago.
2025 Exeter City Council Mincinglake & Whipton by-election results
James Cookson held Topsham for Labour despite its vote share in the ward falling by nearly 17% to a little over 28% in a close contest which Conservative Keith Sparkes lost by a margin of less than 1%.
Reform UK came third, with a 23% vote share. Across both wards the party won 1,549 votes – only 14 less than Labour.
The city council by-elections followed the resignations of Labour councillors Naima Allcock and Josh Ellis-Jones, both of whom quit during the third year of four-year terms.
Full results in both wards, including votes cast for each candidate with vote share, party vote share change and turnout, are available here.
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On Our Radar
SATURDAY 8 & SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2025
Carmen
Exeter Opera Group performs Bizet’s tale of a free-spirited woman and her passionate and destructive love affair with a soldier.
EXETER CASTLE
SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2025
The Weather Book
Exeter Philharmonic Choir performs a new weather-inspired work plus pieces by Brahms, Poulenc and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
EXETER CATHEDRAL
SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2025
Sacred and Profane
Medieval music with Steve Tyler, Marco Cannavò and Katy Marchant.
2025 Exeter City Council Mincinglake & Whipton by-election results
