David Warburton

Well done ! The LibDems are absolutely done with the Tories.

Let's hope that everyone who wants rid of them supports Sarah in Somerton and Frome.

If I were voting in either of the other two by elections I would vote Labour.

There are eight candidates in the Somerton and Frome by election and all of them live in the constituency except for the Labour and Tory candidates.

Yet the Tory candidate has the cheek to describe herself as local. Her blurb proclaims that "countless" local people already know her. She says "no-one we've talked to wanted this by election". !!!!!

Perhaps if she lived in the constituency and spoke to some local people she might be told that this by election should have happened over a year ago.

We are disgusted that Warburton did not have the decency to resign when his behaviour was made public and he was suspended from the House of Commons last April.

Presumably the Tories would have preferred us to remain unrepresented until the general election.

Meanwhile, a row has broken up in the local Labour Party. The candidate who stood here for Labour in the last two elections, and is also a local councillor living in the constituency, was not even shortlisted and given no reason. He has now resigned from the Labour Party after twelve years of membership.

I'm glad to say that all the LP sympathisers I've spoken to have said they intend to support the Liberal Democrat, Sarah Dyke.

The Somerton and Frome constituency has traditionally been a two-horse race - Liberal Democrats held the seat from 1997, until Warburton’s win in 2015. This time around sees councillor Sarah Dyke running for the Lib Dems, with fellow councillor Faye Purbrick on the ballot for the Conservatives, as the only candidates with a realistic chance.

A huge swing would be needed for Dyke to emerge victorious - Mr Warburton secured a majority of more than 19,000 in 2019 - but the bookies say yet another defeat is the most likely outcome for the Tories.

If this neck of the woods should follow the form of neighbouring Devon, where Lib Dem Richard Foord overturned a Tory majority of more than 24,000 in the Tiverton and Honiton by-election, it could be a worrying premonition for the party in power.

We all know what happened in 2019. Perhaps more worrying for the Tories, we all know what happened in 1997. And the famous Somerset Levels could this month provide the best indication yet of a landslide on the horizon…

www.nationalworld.com/opinion/somerton-frome-by-election-a-bellwether-for-general-election-4212397

Have the Tories given up on Somerton and

Frome?

Today there are no Tory tellers at our local polling station - only the Liberal Democrats!

You must be Sarah Dykes campaign manager varian.

varian

Sarah Dyke lives near Wincanton and has made it clear she intends to represent her own area in the new constituency which includes Glastonbury.

This by-election is based on the existing constituency of Somerton and Frome and Sarah is very strong Lib Dem candidate with an impressive record as a councillor.

Varian - My understanding, from a Zoom meeting when Sarah was chosen as the LibDem candidate, was that she would represent the Frome end of the constituency when the boundary changes kicked in. Have I got that wrong? I do hope not, as having lived in Frome with both LibDem and Tory MPs, I know which I prefer and it definitely isn't Rees-Mogg who is the MP for the area we will be joined to.

varian

Have the Tories given up on Somerton and

Frome?

Today there are no Tory tellers at our local polling station - only the Liberal Democrats!

It's because the LibDems are going all out to win. I've done the telling today when a Tory one was also there and they've struggled to get people involved.

varian

There are eight candidates in the Somerton and Frome by election and all of them live in the constituency except for the Labour and Tory candidates.

Yet the Tory candidate has the cheek to describe herself as local. Her blurb proclaims that "countless" local people already know her. She says "no-one we've talked to wanted this by election". !!!!!

Perhaps if she lived in the constituency and spoke to some local people she might be told that this by election should have happened over a year ago.

We are disgusted that Warburton did not have the decency to resign when his behaviour was made public and he was suspended from the House of Commons last April.

Presumably the Tories would have preferred us to remain unrepresented until the general election.

Meanwhile, a row has broken up in the local Labour Party. The candidate who stood here for Labour in the last two elections, and is also a local councillor living in the constituency, was not even shortlisted and given no reason. He has now resigned from the Labour Party after twelve years of membership.

I'm glad to say that all the LP sympathisers I've spoken to have said they intend to support the Liberal Democrat, Sarah Dyke.

The Tory candidate sent out a 'hand-written' (i.e. printed) letter which gave her address as a pub in Wincanton. When the pub was asked about it, they said she had stayed there overnight!

"Yet the Tory candidate has the cheek to describe herself as local. Her blurb proclaims that "countless" local people already know her. She says "no-one we've talked to wanted this by election". !!!!!" She clearly hasn't read the Frome FB page where everyone has been asking for a by-election for the past 15 months!

Varian You're obviously a fellow Fromie, or is that a fellow Somerton-ite? Good to know there are other Gransneters in this area. [hello]

Brilliant result!!!!

news.sky.com/story/lib-dems-win-somerton-and-frome-by-election-after-ex-tory-mp-stood-down-following-drug-scandal-12923650

varian

Brilliant result!!!!

news.sky.com/story/lib-dems-win-somerton-and-frome-by-election-after-ex-tory-mp-stood-down-following-drug-scandal-12923650

Abso-bloomin'-lutely!