"[3] Bye was the Conservative Party's third directly elected mayor, after Chris Morgan and Linda Arkley in North Tyneside and the first directly elected mayor in the South West.

Bye was one of three contenders for the Totnes Conservative candidacy, after the announcement by Anthony Steen that he will not stand in the next election.

Bye was the subject of a complaint to Torbay Council's standards committee in August 2010, over the proposed development of a large housing estate on land currently being occupied by Churston Golf Club.

On 12 November 2010, Bye confirmed that he would be seeking to stand as Mayor of Torbay for a further 4 years however he was deselected by the Conservative Party in favour of former independent candidate, Gordon Oliver, and stood for re-election as an independent.

[4] He failed to secure re-election in May 2011, losing to his Conservative opponent Gordon Oliver.