Labour select former candidate for Tiverton & Honiton

Liz Pole came second last time

Labour has selected the candidate who came second to Neil Parish in 2019 to run for the Tiverton & Honiton by-election.

Liz Pole attracted 20 per cent of the votes in the last general election, compared with Mr Parish's 60 per cent share. The Lib Dems, who are buoyed by their recent success in local elections, especially in the south west, came third with 15 per cent.

Now Ms Pole, who runs an international software business, is to try again for the largely rural seat.

It had been thought that Labour and the Lib Dems may come to some kind of mutual, but not necessarily very public, understanding not to fight one another very hard, to increase the chance of dislodging the Conservatives, who have held the seats, or its equivalents since the dawn of the steam engine.

On her website, Liz for Labour, Ms Pole is still using figures from the 2017 general election, which flattered Labour more than the 2019 one. The out-of-date chart shows the Lib Dems way behind Labour.  Her predecessor as Labour candidate, Caroline Kolek, attracted 27 per cent of the votes, compared to eight per cent for the Lib Dems.

Ms Pole did nowhere near as well in 2019. The number of voters choosing Labour fell 25 per cent.

With the Tories in disarray and the scandal surrounding Mr Parish's resignation still fresh in voters' minds, the contest will be more open.

Ms Pole says: “It is an honour to be the Labour candidate for Tiverton and Honiton. Times are much tougher than they should be for hardworking people across our constituency. We are in a cost of living crisis, and in Tiverton and Honiton, real wages will fall by £1,100 this year on average because of spiralling inflation.

"It’s time we sent a clear message to Boris Johnson that enough is enough, because Tiverton and Honiton, and the country deserve so much better."