IN the 2019 local elections, the Conservative party lost its long-held majority at Mid Devon District Council. 

Subsequently, the Independent Councillor Bob Deed was elected Council Leader. 

At the time Cllr Deed rightly said: "The voting public has given us a very clear indication as to how they would like to be governed within Mid Devon and therefore I am very specific in terms of ensuring that we have a cabinet for example which is equitably constructed with members of all the three parties who have been elected."

He then duly assembled a cross-party Cabinet of Conservatives, Lib Dems, Greens and Independents. 

However, since then he’s removed the three Lib Dems from the Cabinet and replaced them with Tories.

He then removed the Green Cabinet member, and her climate portfolio. And he recently created a new post for "Improvement" and gave it to a Conservative.

And so now - with the exception of three Independent councillors - the MDDC Cabinet is all Conservative.

Councillor Deed was himself a Conservative Councillor for eight years. 

This is not what Mid Devon voted for. And it is not what our Council Leader promised.

Why has he done this? I emailed him recently to gently ask this question. His reply simply said that he ’noted’ my comments. 

In the 2019 elections people voted for a change.

Now it is clear this is not what we have got.

I wonder what "representative democracy" means to Councillor Deed and his Cabinet?

Crediton Resident

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