Bridgwater Town Council was re-established in 2003 and is Labour controlled. Until 1974 Bridgwater had a historic ,always radical and mainly socialist Borough Council, but this was destroyed in the local government reforms of that year which saw it subsumed by Sedgemoor District Council – better known as ‘direct rule from Cheddar’. From 1974 until 2003 Bridgwater existed solely as a group of ‘Charter Trustees’ which comprised of the Bridgwater Councillors who were elected to represent Sedgemoor simply sitting as an advisory board for the town. This was a totally powerless body and designed to keep Bridgwater subservient to Sedgemoor. Full powers were regained in 2003 (although Tory councillors voted against this) and the town has been Labour controlled ever since. In 2023 Sedgemoor District Council was abolished and a new Unitary system set up across Somerset. Bridgwater now had the opportunity to realign as the key local player taking back services and increasing local control.
The Mayor of Bridgwater is elected every year from amongst the 16 town councillors. The current Mayor is Mick Lerry (2023-2024) The role of Mayor is a purely ‘civic and ceremonial ‘ one and includes the role of chairing Council meetings. The list of Mayors is here. The Leader of the Town Council is Brian Smedley and the Deputy Leader is Kath Pearce.Bridgwater Town Council Executive
BTC Policy & Finance Executive is comprised of 8 Councillors from the ruling group with a specific Portfolio remit. 2023-24 it is Brian Smedley (Leader/Finance) Kath Pearce (Deputy Leader/ Climate Change) Mick Lerry (Economy/Staff) Tim Mander (Property) Dave Loveridge (Transport) Elizabeth Marsh (Community) Irena Hubble (Culture, Heritage, Arts) Jacqui Solomon (Youth)Forum System
Bridgwater Town Council operates on a Forum system which involves members of the public in it’s decision making with named councillors taking the lead. This includes Click here for Leader’s report on council structure Click here for Town Council web siteFull list of town councillors
Your town councillors are grouped by wards (see map), Click on the link to find how to contact them Westover Brian Smedley (Labour) Kath Pearce (Labour) Tim Mander (Labour) Hamp Liz Leavy (Labour) Leigh Redman (Labour) Eastover Tony Heywood (Labour) Jacqui Solomon (Labour) Victoria Mick Lerry (Labour) Liz Marsh (Labour) Fairfax West Irena Hubble (Labour) Fairfax East Alex Glassford (Labour) Richard Morgan (Independent) Dunwear North Dave Loveridge (Labour) Dunwear South Sulia Aujla (Con) Wyndham Rachel Lilley (Con) Gill Slocombe (Con)TOWN COUNCIL ELECTION RESULTS 2022
Bridgwater Town Council – Dunwear North ward – 17.39% | 1 | LOVERIDGE, Dave (Lab) RODRIGUES, Diogo Jose (Con) | 194 elected 131 |
Bridgwater Town Council – Duwear South ward – 33.1% turnout | 1 | AUJLA, Suria (Con) BAKER, Sarah (Lib Dem) FALKINGHAM, Jon (Lab) | 275 elected 80 158 |
Bridgwater Town Council – Eastover ward – 19.65 % | 2 | GUSMAO, Januario (Con) HEYWOOD, Tony (Lab) NICKOLLS, Antony (Lib Dem) SOLOMON, Jacqui (Lab) | 231 336 elected 204 283 elected |
Bridgwater Town Council – Fairfax East ward – 20.95% | 2 | BARNES, Pelè James (Con) DINGWALL, Andrew (Con) GLASSFORD, Alex (Lab) KING, Lorna (Lib Dem) MORGAN, Richard (Lab) | 267 274 305 elected 167 277 elected |
Bridgwater Town Council – Fairfax West ward – 16.05% turnout | 1 | HUBBLE, Irena (Lab) NICKOLLS, Adrian (Lib Dem) ROGERS, Christine (Con) | 103 elected 66 91 |
Bridgwater Town Council – Hamp ward – 17.93 % turnout | 2 | FERMOR, Matthew (Con) GALEITZKE, Klaus Detlef (Con) LEAVY, Liz (Lab and Co-Op) REDMAN, Leigh (Lab) | 218 176 346 elected 392 elected |
Bridgwater Town Council – Victoria ward – 18.33% turnout | 2 | DUDDRIDGE, Lance (Con) HAYSHAM, Taz (Lib Dem) LERRY, Mick (Lab) MARSH, Liz (Lab) STEVENSON, John (Con) | 214 109 246 elected 261 elected 156 |
Bridgwater Town Council – Westover ward 21.58 % turnout | 3 | BOLT, Brian James (Con) MANDER, Tim (Lab) PEARCE, Kathy (Lab) SMEDLEY, Brian David (Lab) | 308 508 elected 562 elected 536 elected |
Bridgwater Town Council – Wyndham ward 33.85% turnout | 2 | BOUCHER, Meg (Lab) Di CAMPO, Elaine (Lab) LILLEY, Rachael Helen (Con) SLOCOMBE, Gill (Con) WAGHORN, Dean (Lib Dem) WAY, Nathan Philip (Lib Dem | 347 303 567 elected 699 elected 215 172 |