Exeter’s 36 year campaign to have its unitary council status restored cleared its final parliamentary hurdles this week.

In a hotly contested debate on Monday in the House of Lords, an attempt by Liberal Democrat Peers to kill the legislation was overwhelmingly defeated.

A motion from the Cross Bench Peer Lady Butler Sloss expressing regret at the move and asking for a further delay was passed, but not with as big a majority as had been expected.

The only other two cross benchers who spoke, supported Exeter’s case, as did the Labour Peers Lord (Larry) Whitty and Baroness (Brenda) Dean.

The orders was also approved easily both in committee and on the floor in the House of Commons.

It was a great tribute to the hard work of everyone in Exeter over so many years. An all-party delegation from the city last week, led by Conservative Lord Mayor Cllr John Winterbottom and including Lib Dem, Liberal and Labour councillors did a brilliant job at persuading cross bench and Tory Peers not to support the fatal amendment.

Now that the orders for both Exeter and Norwich have been approved by Parliament, after lengthy debate in both Houses and are law, it is far less likely that the outstanding legal challenge by Norfolk and Devon will succeed. Parliament is sovereign and the courts are usually very reluctant to overturn such a strong democratic mandate.

Also, one of the effects of the legislation has been to postpone the city council elections that were due to take place in one third of Exeter wards in May in order to hold all out elections to the new unitary authority next year.

So those councillors who would have faced elections in May have been told they can continue for one more year. By the time the court sits it will be too late to reinstate those elections so the court will want to be very mindful indeed of the consequences of any ruling on the democratic process.

Meanwhile David Cameron has been embarrassing his local parliamentary candidate in Exeter today telling local Tories they were wrong to support Exeter’s bid. Cameron is either incredibly ill-informed or astonishingly insensitive or both.

Exeter Tory leader Yolanda Henson has fought for years for unitary status and was ably supported by John Winterbottom, Norman Shiel and Jeff Coates among others for last week’s lobby of the Lords.

Cameron said a Tory Government would reverse the decision. But as doing so would require primary legislation could anyone really see an incoming Tory government making this their first priority and upsetting Exeter Conservatives in the process?

When can we expect the Conservative parliamentary candidate to finally speak up for Exeter, support local Conservative councillors and call publicly for her national party to allow Exeter to fulfil its ambition and call on Tory-run Devon County Council to drop its costly and futile legal shenanigans?

The House of Commons voted decisively last night to support Exeter’s bid for self rule.

A motion tabled by the Conservatives opposing Government plans to restore unitary government to Exeter and Norwich was defeated comfortably.

Conservative MPs from rural Devon and Norfolk lined up to criticise the plans.

But the proposals were strongly supported by Labour members including the former Home Sectretary and Norwich MP Charles Clarke.

The Chairman of the influential Commons local government select committee, Dr Phyllis Starkey, also supported Exeter’s case pointing out that is enjoys all party support in the city, including from Conservative councillors.

The Minister, Barbara Follett said the Government was restoring the full local government status Exeter had enjoyed for 800 years until it was taken away by the Conservative Government in the early 1970s.

Potholes and the state of the roads is one of the main complaints I get on the doorstep. Another good reason for Exeter to run its own affairs.

It’s ludicrous that councillors from Bideford and South Hams decide how much money to spend repairing Exeter’s roads and which roads to repair when.

We need Exeter councillors who are accountable to local people making those decisions and given the money to do so. Exeter would then get our fair share of resources, rather than it all going to the rural areas.

As Exeter’s bid to have its self-rule restored reaches the final lap all eyes are on the House of Lords.

A legal attempt by Devon and Norfolk county councils to thwart Exeter and Norwich’s aspirations was rightly put on the back burner by the High Court who said Parliament should take precedence.

The House of Lords is full of Conservative and Liberal Democrat supporters of the powerful county lobby in this David and Goliath struggle. A very experienced cross bench Peer tells me the Lords has only rejected a Government order 3 times since 1945 and never one relating to local government organisation.

It would therefore be a constitutional outrage if the Lords were to block the Exeter and Norwich orders – which enjoy strong support in those two cities. If unelected Liberal Democrat or Conservative Peers try to block the will of the people of Exeter and Norwich and the democratic Commons, all pretence by those parties to support the democratic principle and a reformed Lords would be exposed as a sham.

It would also create a precedent the Conservatives might regret should they ever form a future Government.

Devon County Council’s decision to try to stop Exeter getting control of its own affairs is a staggering waste of local people’s money.

After the huge sums Devon has already wasted on its own bid for unitary status, which it then withdrew, blowing yet more public money trying to thwart democracy in Exeter is little short of scandalous.

The Tories who run Devon pay lip service to local democracy and devolving power - but not when it comes to one of Englands great historic cities, it would seem!

The decision to grant Exeter unitary status is wonderful news.

It restores the self- rule that our city enjoyed for hundreds of years until 1974.

All those in Exeter who have worked so hard over many years to this end deserve congratulation.

They include the business community, university, voluntary sector and all four political parties on the city council.

That strong all party unity has been critically important to this result.

But more than anything this is a tribute to the people of Exeter who have never given up on their desire to return to running their their own affairs in the same way as England’s other great cities.

In means that in future Exeter councillors will once again decide on local matters affecting Exeter rather than councillors from Barnstaple, Kingsbridge or Tavistock. No longer will councillors or councils be able to pass the buck between them. A single council will be responsible for what happens in Exeter with councillors directly accountable to the people they serve.

We had a good meeting yesterday between the local government minister, Rosie Winterton and Exeter councillors and business community on Exeter’s bid for unitary status.

I do hope that the Government will now honour the long-standing wish of Exeter to run its own affairs. It was heartening to be able to present the Minister with a united political front – with all 4 parties on Exeter City Council – Labour, Conservative, Liberal and Liberal Democrat strongly supporting Exeter’s case.

The implication of this is that she believes councillors from North Devon and South Hams are better able to make decisions affecting Exeter than councillors, including those of her own party, who actually live in and represent Exeter.

Since then, it has been the policy of all the parties in Exeter to support a return to self rule.

I know the Conservative candidate has come under strong pressure from rural Conservatives in Devon and from her party’s HQ in London – but if she’s aspiring to represent Exeter, shouldn’t she be standing up to them and supporting Exeter’s interests and the views of her own local councillors?

It’s deeply frustrating that mistakes make by the Boundary Committee in the way it went about dealing with Exeter’s bid to run its own affairs has led to a further delay in the process.

But at least it seems to have accepted what Exeter has been saying for a long time - the Boundary Committee can recommend more than one solution and should take into account the savings across the piece from the reduction in the current number of local authorities to one or two.

However, it is more important to get things right than to rush the process.