LESS than half of Devon’s electorate cast their ballot in May’s local elections, figures have shown.

Of the county’s 640, 715 electorate, a total of 243, 363 votes were cast, which equates to a turnout of 38 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats received the most votes, with Reform UK coming in second, though there was less than two per cent difference between the two parties

The former received 68,823 votes, which represents a 28.3 per cent share of the vote, while the latter received 65,899, representing a 27.1 per cent share of the vote.

Over ten thousand more voters cast their ballots for Reform rather than the Conservatives, who received 53,023 votes, which equates to 21.8 per cent of the total vote.

A total of 24,830 votes were cast for the Green Party, 18,691 for Labour and 11,154 for independent candidates; candidates listed as ‘other’ received 494 votes and 449 ballots were spoiled.

Across England, elections were held for 1,640 seats, 1,731 including by-elections.

The Conservatives lost 675 seats, Labour lost 189 seats, while the Liberal Democrats gained 163 seats.

Reform saw the largest change in seats, gaining 677 seats in the elections.