Postal ballots have had to be-issued in Lympstone & Woodbury as a result of confusion about whether or not one of the candidates, Amanda Ford, could display a red “Labour” logo on the ballot paper.

The “description” section of her nomination paper blank had been left blank and she seemed to be standing as an independent, adding the logo means that she isn’t. (Owl understands that the returning officer is acting on advice from the Electoral Commission on what must be an unprecedented case).

Amanda is a bit of a chameleon figure who popped onto Owl’s radar in 2018 when she quit as the Teign Valley ward member on Teignbridge District Council, slashing the Conservative majority to one.

Her resignation followed suspension by the Conservative Party days before her resignation following claims that she had broken the Code of Conduct for members.

In 2017 she stood as the Conservative candidate in the Barnsley Central ward in the General Election. 

This is how DevonLive reported her resignation at the time:

“Prior to her departure, she had resigned from the vice-chairman role of the overview and scrutiny committee, had complained that she was being bullied by officers, and that the atmosphere at council HQ was ‘poisonous’.

But Cllr Jeremy Christophers, leader of the council, denied her claims and said that he was saddened by the allegations and misrepresentations that she made and that the council’s senior leadership team did not recognise her version of events and relations between officers and members.

He added: “It was sad end for someone who showed some promise in the early days but who couldn’t get her head around the idea of collective decision making.

“Just saying what you like to who you like, when you like, doesn’t apply when you are a councillors, and some officers were concerned by a lack of respect that she had for them.

“We had tried to help her through the complaints process with her grievances but she did not take and listen to the relevant legal advice from the council. In fact, she was actually suspended from the Conservative Group on October 31 as she had broken the members’ code of conduct which says that you must treat officers with respect.”

Cllr Ford did not reply to request from the LDRS to comment on the reasons for her departure from Teignbridge District Council.”