Barnstaple by-election for MP’s former seat on North Devon Council

The former North Devon Council seat of Ian Roome MP will be contested between five candidates on Thursday, May 1 at the same time as the Devon County Council elections.

Mr Roome, who had been leader of North Devon Council, resigned from the seat last year after becoming an MP.

He had served as a Liberal Democrat district councillor since 2015 but said it would not be possible to be a councillor and an MP at the same time. He is also not standing for his former Devon County Council seat.

Standing for the Barnstaple with Pilton seat on the district council are Loki Dawson for the Liberal Democrats, David Jarvis for Reform UK, Rhys Jones for the Labour Party, Lisa Mackenzie for the Conservative Party and Howard Porter for the Green Party.

Polling stations for the local elections will be open from 7am to 10pm at communities across the region. Voters are reminded to take an accepted form of photo ID with them when they go to vote, unless they have already applied for and received a Voter Authority Certificate.

The full list of photo IDs that are accepted can be found at https://www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need