The new Honiton and Sidmouth constituency is “ripe for the taking” at the next general election, according to Liberal Democrat candidate Richard Foord.

The 45-year-old former army major, who won a by-election in 2022 to become the MP for Tiverton and Honiton, spoke at a campaign rally in Ottery St Mary on Saturday (January 13) about how he wants to repeat this year the “mass movement” that got him elected.

He said: “We have a real opportunity this year to make history happen once again. 

“Here in Devon, we’ve demonstrated that that victory in June 2022 was not a one-off.  

“In the local elections for East Devon District Council, we more than doubled the number of Lib Dem councillors.  

“In Mid Devon, we have in this room today… councillors who amongst their number got the biggest victory in terms of the number of Conservatives overturned in that local election last year.  

“We have built a very successful campaigning machine since that by-election in 2022. 

“That was a victory where the context was Boris Johnson was prime minister and… people were disgusted by being lied to by the prime minister of this country.  

“Since then, you’ve seen the dreadful premiership of Liz Truss that has laid bare the ideology that some Conservatives pursue around giving tax cuts for the very wealthy and being comfortable with the gap in the very poorest and the very rich widening all the time.” 

He added: “I will concede that I have heard on doorsteps in Ottery St Mary, it’s said that you could take a donkey from the Sidmouth sanctuary, put a blue rosette on it, and it would get elected in the general election.  

“I think we have demonstrated that that is history. 

“Community is at the heart of what Liberal Democrats believe in, and that is why we’ve been able to rally activists and supporters. 

“In the Tiverton and Honiton by-election, we had more doorstep conversations than there were doorsteps in that constituency. 

“We pushed more leaflets through people’s doors than they could possibly fit on their doormat. 

“We had donations given in small amounts by so many people, that it was very much a mass movement that got me elected in 2022.  

“And if we are to repeat that in Honiton and Sidmouth in 2024, it’s going to require us to build a movement.  

“I’ve been on doorsteps, canvassing with people in this room morning, evening and night this week.  

“This constituency is so ripe for the taking. There are so many people out there who perhaps aren’t wildly interested in politics as some of us might be, but they are so utterly disenchanted with this Conservative government. 

“It doesn’t take much to nudge them over the edge and to encourage them to do something differently. 

“I do honestly feel that there is not going to be another opportunity like this in Honiton and Sidmouth, in Ottery St Mary and surrounding villages and towns, for us to defeat the Conservatives.  

“I really feel like our time is now.” 

Midweek Herald: Mr Foord will go toe-to-toe with current East Devon MP Simon Jupp.Mr Foord will go toe-to-toe with current East Devon MP Simon Jupp. (Image: Will Goddard)

Read more: Tory Honiton and Sidmouth candidate will be ‘fighting for every single vote’

Mr Foord will go head-to-head with Conservative East Devon MP Simon Jupp for the new Honiton and Sidmouth seat, which includes parts of both of their old constituencies. 

Both currently have small majorities: Mr Foord won a by-election in Tiverton and Honiton in 2022 with a majority of 6,144, and Mr Jupp won by 6,708 votes in East Devon in the 2019 general election. 

The runner-up with over 40 per cent of the vote in East Devon was independent Claire Wright, who has backed Mr Foord. 

A general election must be called at some point this year.