Somerton and Frome declared “two horse race” by Lib DemLeader

17 Jul 2023

EMBARGO: 00:01 Tuesday 18th July

Ed Davey visits Horse Sanctuary in Somerton on final campaign visit
Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey calls for official review into access to GPs in rural areas led by Care Quality Commission

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will tomorrow (Tuesday 18th July), make his final campaign visit ahead of the Somerton and Frome by-election on Thursday.

Ed Davey is visiting a Horse Sanctuary in Somerton with the party’s by-election candidate Cllr Sarah Dyke.

The party is looking to overturn a 19,000 Conservative majority in the rural Somerset constituency. The party has won three historic by-election victories in this Parliament against the Conservatives, including the rural Devon constituency of Tiverton and Honiton.

The Liberal Democrat candidate is Cllr Sarah Dyke who lives in the constituency and is from a Somerset farming family which can be traced back over 250 years to the local area. Sarah has held the Environment portfolio on Somerset Council, delivering an award winning recycling project and a new tree planting strategy for the county.

Lifelong Conservative voters in Somerset are switching to the Liberal Democrats over a lack of GP appointments and botched new basic payments system.

The Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey is calling for a legal right for patients to see a GP within a week, or within 24 hours if in urgent need. This would be achieved by recruiting an extra 8,000 GPs. Ed Davey is also urging an independent review into GP access in rural areas.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“The Somerton and Frome by-election is a two horse race between the Liberal Democrats and an out of touch Conservative party.

“Rural communities have been taken for granted for too long by this Conservative government. Local health services have been neglected, with GP appointments hard to come by and NHS dentists taking on no new patients.

“I’ve heard loud and clear from farmers who are furious with Conservative MPs for signing up to botched overseas trade deals and pushing through a catastrophic end to basic payments.

“On Thursday, towns and villages across Somerset have the chance to elect a local champion in Sarah Dyke. Somerton and Frome can send Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party a message on Thursday. Enough is enough, the Conservative party soap opera must end. The Conservative party is simply not fit to govern this country.”

ENDS