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14 Apr 2015

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Claire Wright, EDDC, General Election, Hugo Swire, Independent Councillors

East Devon groundbreaking constituency for Independents for district council AND General Election

Press release from Claire Wright, Independent Parliamentary Candidate

Devon East, where the junior Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire was the local MP and who had a majority of 9,000 in 2010, is now a marginal seat according to the Electoral Reform Society.

Meanwhile Claire Wright, with substantial local government experience, and backed by hundreds of local helpers, is considered by Ladbrokes to be the Independent with the best chance of success in the general election of any Independents in the whole of the UK. The bookies confirm that Claire’s odds have improved further and faster than any genuine, non-local issue Independent for many years. Now considered to be the outstanding challenger to the previous incumbent, Claire continues to garner support and to attract financial contributions from individuals as she will not accept donations from big business.

The backing for Independents in East Devon is not confined to Claire Wright. It also applies at the level of district council. At present, the East Devon District Council is dominated by Conservatives, as it has been for many years.

Two months ago, the East Devon Alliance, previously a successful pressure group, announced that it would form an umbrella group to support candidates wishing to stand at the District council election. Of the 29 wards to be contested, 24 will be fought by Independent candidates. A total of 37 Independent candidates will be standing across the district and 22 will be “Independent East Devon Alliance” on the ballot papers and 15 will be Independent.

Other parties will be fielding 96 candidates but, for the first time ever, the number of Conservatives, at 57, will be overshadowed by the number of non-Conservatives, which is 76.

Paul Arnott, the chairman of the East Devon Alliance said that “taken with the unstoppable rise of the Independent Parliamentary candidate for East Devon, Claire Wright, this phenomenal offer by 37 Independents to the people of the district proves that East Devon better represents the desire for a change in democracy than anywhere else in the United Kingdom.”