The Liberal Democrats see themselves as likely rivals for the Conservatives in the upcoming midterm elections in Tiverton and Honiton, Ed Davy said, although his party ended up behind Labor in the last three general elections.
Conservatives have held the post in Devon since its inception in 1997, but may face a tough battle following the resignation of MP Neil Parish after he admitted to watching pornography twice in the House of Commons.
While Labor ended before the Liberal Democrats in the constituency in all general elections since 2015, Davey’s party is ready to announce that it is likely to win the Tories based on stronger results from local elections in the area.
They did so in the by-elections in North Shropshire in December, coming from the far third in 2019 after the Tories and Labor to win the Conservative stronghold by nearly 6,000 votes following the resignation of another infamous MP, Owen Patterson.
Asked about his party’s chances in Tiverton and Honiton, Davey told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday’s show: “I believe the Liberal Democrats can be real rivals in this. We have a real legacy of success in the southwest.
“We showed in the by-elections in North Shropshire, where we were third in the previous general election, but we defeated the Conservatives. No one gave us a chance, but in those rural communities in North Shropshire, we found lifelong conservatives who thought they were taken for granted.
The Democratic Party and Labor strongly reject the idea of formal pacts, with Davey and Keira Starmer denying that their parties were left out in some areas of local elections this Thursday.
However, both have shown a desire to campaign less in places where the other is more likely to defeat the Conservatives.
The Liberal Democrats are expected to do so in the upcoming by-elections in Wakefield, where Labor hopes to regain their seat following the resignation of Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
A Labor source said: “All countries are wise to devote appropriate time and resources to places where they have the best chance of winning, or to create a good history by gaining ground.”
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Asked if the Liberal Democrats were deliberately sidelined Thursday in areas such as the north-east of England, where the party is running for 56 per cent of the seats, up from 78 per cent in the last battle four years ago, Davey denied any deal.
“There is no pact now, there will be no pact in the future,” he told the Ridge show. “The Liberal Democrats are, in fact, fighting Labor in many areas: in Hull, in Sunderland, in Sheffield, in Harring, in Southwark.
“These council numbers are a little distracting and quite desperate for conservatives. Let us remember, they always hesitate from election to election. In fact, this time the Conservatives are proposing more than 100 fewer candidates.
Starmer also rejected the idea of a secret pact, according to Conservative Chairman Oliver Dowden. “I wouldn’t take anything that Oliver Dowden takes very seriously,” he told the Ridge show. “There is no pact, everyone knows there is no pact.”
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