West Devon Borough Council provides
district-level services.
County-level services are provided by
Devon County Council. The whole borough is also covered by
civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government. In the parts of the borough within the Dartmoor National Park,
town planning is the responsibility of the
Dartmoor National Park Authority. The borough council appoints two of its councillors to serve on the 19-person National Park Authority.
Political control The council has been under
no overall control since the
2023 election, being led by a coalition of the independent councillors, Greens, Liberal Democrats and Labour.
Leadership The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in West Devon. Political leadership is instead provided by the
leader of the council. The leaders since 2012 have been:
Composition Following the
2023 election, and subsequent by-elections in June 2023, May 2024 and May 2025, the composition of the council was: The independent councillors, Greens, Liberal Democrats and Labour sit together as the "West Devon Alliance" group, which forms the council's administration. The next election is due in 2027.
Elections Since the last boundary changes in 2015, the council has comprised 31
councillors representing 18
wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. In the
EU referendum of 2016, the majority of voters in West Devon voted to leave the
European Union (18,937 to 16,658, that is 53.2% to 46.8%). The turnout was 81.25%. The borough straddles the constituencies of
Central Devon,
South West Devon and
Torridge and Tavistock. ==Towns and parishes==