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.
The Mayor of Bridgwater is elected every year from amongst the 16 town councillors. In 2019-20 it was Tony Heywood. The current Mayor (since November 2020) is Leigh Redman
The role of Mayor is a ‘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 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 new council
Click here for Town Council web site
Full 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) Li Gibson (Labour
Hamp
Liz Leavy (Labour) Leigh Redman (Labour)
Eastover
Tony Heywood (Labour) Glen Burrows (Labour)
Victoria
Mick Lerry (Labour) Julie Cordiner (Labour)
Fairfax West
Graham Granter (Labour)
Fairfax East
Mike Creswell (Con) Diogo Rodrigues (Elected LAB, then IND 06.2019- 03.2020 then Con since March 2020)
Dunwear North
Dave Loveridge (Labour)
Dunwear South
Sulia Aujla (Con)
Wyndham
Rachel Lilley (Con) Gill Slocombe (Con)
TOWN COUNCIL ELECTION RESULTS 2019
Dunwear North Ward
BARNES, Pele James (Con) 101
KING, Lorna Ann Phillipa (Lib Dem) 62
LOVERIDGE, Dave (Lab) 177 duly elected
The total electorate was 2,010 and the turnout was 20.11%
Dunwear South Ward
AUJLA, Suria (Con) – 209 duly elected
TUCKER, Gary Andrew Derek (Lab) – 202
The total electorate was 1,600 and the turnout was 30.94%
Eastover Ward
BRISTOWE, Sue (Con) – 177
BURROWS, Glen (Lab) – 412 duly elected
FRASER-HOWELLS, Jonathan (Con) – 155
HEYWOOD, Tony (Lab) – 375 duly elected
The total electorate was 3,386 and the turnout was 22.12%
Fairfax East Ward
BAKER, Arah Victoria (Lib Dem) – 148
CRESSWELL, Mike (Con) – 227 duly elected
GLASSFORD, Alex (Lab) – 226
NICKOLLS, Adrian David (Lib Dem) – 151
RODRIGUES, Diogo (Lab) – 294 duly elected (went IND June 2019 went CON Jan 2020)
The total electorate was 3,536 and the turnout was 21.19%
Fairfax West Ward
GRANTER, Graham John (Lab) – 192 duly elected
MARSH, Helen Julia (Con) – 90
The total electorate was 1,756 and the turnout was 18.19%
Hamp Ward
AUSTEN, Stephen Barry – 216
LEAVY, Elizabeth Ann (Lab) 0 280 duly elected
MOORE, Adrian John 244
NICHOLSON, Julie Stenner (Con) 96
REDMAN, Leigh Paul (Lab) 352 duly elected
The total electorate was 5,360 and the turnout was14.12%
Victoria Ward
CORDINER, Julie Marie (Lab) – 268 duly elected
DUDDRIDGE, Lance John (Con) – 238
HARWOOD, John (Con) – 180
LERRY, Mick (Lab) – 246 duly elected
The total electorate was 3,084 and the turnout was 20.60%
Westover Ward
ASHER, Michael (Con) – 231
BOLT, Brian James (Con) – 240
GIBSON, Li (Lab) – 377 duly elected
LEE, Roland (Lib Dem) – 143
LEWIS, Gareth Edwin (Con) – 244
NICKOLLS, Antony (Lib Dem) – 191
PEARCE, Kathryn Elizabeth (Lab) – 482 duly elected
SMEDLEY, Brian David (Lab) – 461 duly elected
The total electorate was 4,072 and the turnout was 25.63%
Wyndham Ward
JOHNSTONE, Peter Ian (Lib Dem) – 237
LILLEY, Rachael (Con) – 531 duly elected
PALARAM, Inika Raine (Lab) – 180
RIDEWOOD, Stuart (Lab) – 178
SLOCOMBE, Gill (Con) – 611 duly elected
WAGHORN, Dean (Lib Dem) – 211
The total electorate was 4,863
