Exeter had previously been granted permission to become a unitary authority, with local elections postponed until 2011.

[5] When the Coalition Government won the general election earlier that year, Exeter's permission to form a unitary authority was overturned.

Because of this, the High Court ruled that those councillors who had stayed on beyond their four-year term were no longer constitutionally elected, and would need to seek re-election.

Therefore, the winner of the May by-election was deemed to be elected to represent the ward for a full four-year term.

However, the week before the election, two Liberal Democrat councillors defected to Labour in protest against the party's coalition with the Conservatives.