Tudor Evans is a British

Labour Co-op Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated to Labour Co-op; ) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidates contest elections under an el ...

politician who has been the leader of

Plymouth City Council Plymouth City Council is the local authority for the city of Plymouth, in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. Plymouth has had a council since 1439, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1998 the council has been a unitary aut ...

five times, including since May 2023. He has been a councillor for Ham ward since 1988 and has led the Labour group on Plymouth City Council since 1998. He has previously served as leader of the council from 1998 to 2000, 2003 to 2007, 2012 to 2016, and 2018 to 2021. From 2022 to 2024 he was a member of the Labour Party's governing body, the National Executive Committee

Early life

Evans was born in

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

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. He moved to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

as an undergraduate, studying environmental science. He was a director of a co-operative printing company for thirteen years, and works as a local government consultant.

Political career

Evans first stood for election to Plymouth City Council in 1987 in Sutton and Mount Gould ward, losing to

SDP–Liberal Alliance The SDP–Liberal Alliance was a centrist and social liberal political alliance, political and electoral alliance in the United Kingdom. Formed by the Social Democratic Party (UK), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party (UK), Libera ...

candidates. He was subsequently elected as a councillor to Ham ward in 1988, a seat he has held ever since. After the 1998 local election, the Labour group leader John Ingham stood down, having led the council for seven years. Evans put himself forward as a candidate lead the Labour group against fellow councillors Chris Mavin and David Millar. Evans was elected, saying he wanted to prioritise investment, jobs and the tourism industry. He led the council until 2000, when the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

won a majority of seats on the council. Evans became council leader again in 2003, crediting his victory to Conservative plans to close old people's homes. When Labour lost its majority in 2007, he said he was "proud of what iscouncil has achieved", but "puzzled" at having lost control. Labour again took control of the council in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, with the defeated Conservative council leader Vivien Pengelly blaming a cut in the top rate of

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

and the proposed pasty tax from the Conservative chancellor of the Exchequer

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...

's budget. Evans again returned as council leader on a platform including job creation, webcasting council meetings, and trying to stop the construction of an incinerator. He said he was not opposed to the incinerator, but to the planned location. In 2013, the council established an energy co-operative called Plymouth Energy Community. In 2014, he was a signatory to an open letter to ''

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'' calling for an end to cuts to local government. He advocated for Plymouth to be included in a national policy of compensation for businesses affected by flooding. The party lost control after the

2015 election Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African g ...

, which left the council under no overall control. Evans initially remained council leader. He was removed from that post after the 2016 local elections, with local

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of parliament (both through defect ...

councillors forming a coalition with the Conservatives and later defecting to them. During this time, Evans supported a cross-party campaign for Plymouth to retain its warships. After Labour restored its majority in the 2018 council election, Evans returned as council leader with a manifesto including pledges to create a thousand new parking spaces and to construct new low-cost homes. Evans opposed plans to merge

Devon and Cornwall Police Devon and Cornwall Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of Devon and Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly) in South West England. The force serves approximately 1.8 million people over an ...

with

Dorset Police Dorset Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Dorset in South West England, which includes the largely rural area covered by Dorset (unitary authority), Dorset Council, and the urban conurbation of Bournem ...

. Labour lost the 2021 council election, and Evans was replaced by the Conservative councillor Nick Kelly as council leader. In 2022, Evans successfully ran for a position on the

Labour Party National Executive Committee The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the governing body of the UK Labour Party, setting the overall strategic direction of the party and policy development. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affilia ...

as a Councillor representative. He did not run for re-election in 2024. Labour regained control of the council in the 2023 council election. Evans returned as council leader.

Honours and awards

Evans was named council leader of the year in 2015. He was made an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for services to politics and local government in January 2016.

Elections contested

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Tudor Living people Labour Party (UK) councillors People from Ebbw Vale Alumni of the University of Plymouth Councillors in Devon Officers of the Order of the British Empire Year of birth missing (living people) Leaders of local authorities of England