Jo Fotheringham - Independent Thinking

I’m Jo Fotheringham, your local candidate for Honiton St Michael’s.  I’ve lived and worked in Honiton for 8 years. 

I’m an IT consultant and website builder.

I work in a small business with an office on the High Street and was a founding member of Honiton Business Network.

I was a Honiton Town Councillor from May 2023 to January 2026.

I’m not a member of a political party, so I can genuinely represent Honiton’s residents.

I’m not interested in party political point scoring.

This by-election won’t change the controlling group on East Devon District Council, which is currently an alliance of Lib Dems, Greens and some of the 22 independent councillors.

What you can do, is make sure you elect someone local who will speak up for Honiton’s interests. 

Over the last year, I felt that some Honiton Town Councillors had forgotten that they are supposed to represent the interests of Honiton’s residents.

The last straw for me was the 50% increase in HTC’s council tax precept, which I voted against at every stage.

There was no way I could justify that increase to my neighbours in Honiton who have to pay for it!

Don’t believe everything you read on a Conservative campaign leaflet.

It was agreed that Honiton will get a Banking Hub, including an ATM, back in February.

Read the full story here! 

As a Honiton Town Councillor, my achievements included:

• securing ongoing town council funding for Citizens Advice
• chairing the working group that negotiated the new Beehive lease, which will protect taxpayers’ interests for many years to come
• leading opposition to the allocation of land near St Michael’s Church for housing in the draft local plan
• introducing cost saving measures such as adopting Canva and providing free training to council staff

As a Honiton Town Councillor I was:

• Chair of the Beehive Working Group (2023-2025) which negotiated the new lease of the Beehive
• Chair of the Finance Committee from May 2025
• Chair of the Footpaths Working Group, which looks after our local footpaths

My activity within the local community includes:

• volunteering with Operation Rudolph, delivering Christmas dinners for the last 3 years, and saving Christmas 2024 by fixing last minute problems with their client database free of charge
• volunteering with the Honiton Market Charter Day planning group – providing a website free of charge for 3 years
• a founding member of Honiton Business Network, which aims to build contacts between local businesses and grow our local economy

“I have known Jo Fotheringham for many years, both through her work as a town councillor and as a friend.

Jo is true to herself and wholeheartedly committed to representing and supporting her community. She approaches every issue independently, with a can do attitude, expressing her own considered views rather than being driven by party politics.

Jo is honest, principled and an upstanding citizen of Honiton. I have no hesitation in recommending her for East Devon District Council.”

Cllr Tony McCollum – Independent – East Devon District Council, former Honiton Mayor, Honiton Town Councillor and President Honiton Chamber Of Commerce