Zoe Crowther from Politics Home has been out canvassing with Sarah Dyke in Somerton and Frome, and her report is encouraging for the Lib Dems:
Jane, a pensioner who also chose not to give her last name, said the previous MP “had no bloody clue” about local issues. Parish councillor Sarah Webb, 60, said she had only seen Warburton once when he held a clinic shortly after being elected.
Answering her door to Dyke in the village of Templecombe, Webb said her family had always been “historically true blue” but she had now switched her vote to the Lib Dems. She hesitated, however, when asked by PoliticsHome whether she was voting for the Lib Dems as a party or for Dyke as an individual.
"The political party could be the balance but over and above that, it's the person who understands the area," she said, adding that she felt the Lib Dems’ morals were "significantly less under question" than those of the other major political parties.
Multiple residents in Templecombe and Somerton said they felt Warburton had not made an effort to get to know the area and the people, with one man mistakenly believing that Dyke was already the MP for the area.
Polling day is Thursday 20 July, and Sarah needs all the help she can get to capitalise on this great opportunity for a Lib Dem gain. (David Heath held the seat for the party between 1997 and 2015.)
The Lib Dems' by-election headquarters is at Unit 3, Station Approach, Frome BA11 1RE.
Helpers coming from west of Frome are asked to go to Hilton's, Duck's Hill, Huish Episcopi, TA10 9EN.
4 comments:
The Western satellite hub is not at Parrett Close (in the centre of Langport), but on the Eastern outskirts of Langport on the A372 at Hilton's, Duck's Hill, Huish Episcopi, TA10 9EN
Thanks. I'll change it in the morning.
Canvassing last weekend I called on a significant number of Labour and Green voters who were very open to being persuaded to vote tactically. These may be be crucial votes for Sarah to win and they all need to be contacted.
Leafleting out in S&F this week - it's not the bucolic idyll as described by some commentators. Like much of Somerset the area we were in is gritty and hard working, and neither posh nor wealthy. We need decent representation and someone to speak up for country dwellers, which Sarah will provide in spades.
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