Claire Wright, the three-times Independent parliamentary candidate for East Devon, is backing Liberal Democrat MP, Richard Foord, to take the new Honiton & Sidmouth constituency at the next general election.

Running against Conservative candidates, Claire achieved second place in the last three general elections, gaining almost 26,000 votes and over 40 per cent of the vote in December 2019.

She has now revealed that she has been talking with Richard over the last few months about how she can best support his campaign to win the newly formed constituency, which includes Claire's home town of Ottery St Mary.

Richard spectacularly won the Tiverton and Honiton seat last year in a shock 6,144 majority by-election result, after disgraced Conservative MP, Neil Parish was forced to stand aside. It had previously been a safe Conservative seat.

Claire said: “I remain as fascinated with politics as ever and have been following Richard’s work since his election. What I have observed over the past year is a dedicated, hard-working, thoroughly decent man who cares very much about his constituents, so I contacted him to pledge my support.

“Richard’s priorities are very similar to my own, which were established after surveying hundreds of people and listening to thousands of others during my role as a county councillor for many years.

“Richard has already demonstrated that he is a committed champion for our precious NHS, which has been eviscerated after years of deliberate neglect by a government that doesn't appear to believe in the welfare state.

“He also cares very much about, and is active on, environmental issues, including working to prevent sewage in our rivers and coastal waters and most recently speaking at a parliamentary debate to save our migratory birds from extinction, following the submission of a petition signed by over 100,000 people.

“Richard argued in favour of creating a new ‘swift brick’ policy – a simple and cheap option to help the birds nest, that ministers (and other local Conservative MPs) have disgracefully dismissed.

“He has also demonstrated that he cares very much about people who are desperately struggling in society, speaking out on local decisions to remove funding from the most vulnerable people, including those who are homeless.

“This is the man I want to be my MP.”

“Unfortunately, the government and its local representatives are attempting to hoodwink us by claiming that they will fix the very things that they have so badly and knowingly broken, while blaming other events and people for what has gone wrong.

“I really hope that local people will see through the hackneyed lines and lies and turn their backs on this endless deceit, instead supporting a conscientious and hard-working man, who cares far more about his constituents than he ever would about the slippery career pole and desire to divide and rule, that appears to motivate other local parliamentary representatives.

"By-elections are very different beasts from general elections and last year Richard was supported by thousands of Liberal Democrat activists from across the country. This time, he will need the support of a large number of local people to win the seat."

Anyone interested in helping the campaign to get Richard elected is asked to contact Niamh Purvis at organiser.tivhonlibdems@gmail.com