Parties plan 'Primaries' to unseat Tory Magnall

Totnes Tory seat could be under-threat

Three political parties in South Devon are planning to work together to unseat Totnes MP Anthony Mangnall by choosing one candidate between them at the next general election. 

The South Devon Primary group includes key members from the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Green Parties. 
They expect to stage sessions in town halls across the constituency for the public to ask questions of the three progressive candidates and vote for whomever they think is best placed to win the seat. 

Afterwards a winner will be announced, whom the organisers call the ‘People’s Champion.’ Voters will then be encouraged to put aside their political differences and get behind the chosen candidate. 

Co-founder of South Devon Primary, Simon Oldridge, says “Despite what many think, South Devon is not ‘a Conservative area.’ 
“The Tories dominate here because our first-past-the-post system doesn’t work in a multi-party system.” 

Mr Oldridge says he has been motivated by concerns over Mr Mangnall’s stance on climate change and says the MP has not listened to scientific arguments. 

He also argues Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens have more in common than divides them, but says: “We end up with careerist Tory MPs who prioritise big business over concerns of their electorate.”

The idea is inspired from the “Teal independents” in Australia: a loosely-aligned group of independent and minor parties which caused political upset last year. 

Like the South Devon Primary group, Teals advocates for more action to mitigate climate change.

Anthony Mangnall has held the Totnes seat since 2019 with a 12,700 majority and a recent poll suggests Conservatives would still win 37 per cent of the vote. 

The South Devon Primary group claims the combined votes of their three parties totals 57 per cent, which would easily unseat Mangnall. 
Organisers expect to run the town hall voting sessions across South Devon later this year, subject to all candidates having been selected.