Honiton Conservatives retain seat not without impressive fight from Labour

The votes have been counted and Conservative candidate, Philip Twiss, retains his seat as County Councillor for Honiton and Feniton.

This comes as little surprise perhaps, given the political traditions of this rural area, however the results also show a significant proportion of voters went with Labour candidate, Jake Bonetta, who impressed many with his hard-fought campaign.

In fact, 18-year-old Jake received almost three times the number of Labour votes compared with the last election, coming respectably close to the staunch Conservative competition.

The 2021 County Council results are as follows:

TWISS, Phillip: Conservative Party Candidate 2094

BONETTA, Jake: Labour Party Candidate, 1491 votes

CONNOR, Cathy: Liberal Democrats, 321 votes

Compared with the 2017 results:

TWISS, Phillip: Conservative Party Candidate, 1879 votes

BLACKWELL, Andrew: Labour Party, 543 votes

COX, David: Liberal Democrats, 371 votes

SMITH, Graham: UK Independence Party, 269 votes

Jake was quick to congratulate Cllr Phil Twiss on his re-election, commenting on social media: "I hope I didn't give you too much of a fright!" before going on to thank the "brilliant counting staff, presiding officers and election volunteers for all their hard work during a during a difficult pandemic.

"I would also like to thank you, the community of Feniton and Honiton, for coming together and voting yesterday," he continued.

"Whether you voted for me or didn't, let this be known as a momentous election for the town, and for the communities within."

Conservatives have officially kept their overall control of Devon County Council – with some results still to come in – but Liberal Democrats have won three seats.

Honiton Nub News has contacted Cllr Phil Twiss and awaits his comment.