Martin Shaw, whose regular opinion column in the local press has been cancelled, has agreed to write a column for East Devon Watch. 

Martin will not stick to a rigid timetable but respond to issues as they arise. 

Here is the first.

A historic opportunity for East Devon

Just 12 months ago, East Devon voters helped topple Boris Johnson in a by-election after the tractor-porn MP, Neil Parish, resigned. Now Johnson himself has resigned as an MP (because he knew he’d lose a by-election in his London constituency), it feels as though what we started last year is coming to fruition.

Richard Foord, our new Lib Dem MP, has certainly hit the ground running. Having stood for election myself to save the community hospitals threatened with closure in 2017, I was especially pleased to see his new campaign to bring the beds back into Axminster, Honiton, Ottery and Seaton hospitals. The need for these wards was amply demonstrated during the pandemic, when Devon NHS was reduced to commandeering hotels to cope with the extra patients.

I’m sure Richard would agree that this will be just one part of restoring the NHS to a state where we can all be sure of the right care. It will require massive investment in nurses and doctors, which realistically is only likely to come from a Labour government under Keir Starmer. Although he is playing down the issue, it’s obvious that Labour will have to put in huge extra funds as Tony Blair did after Margaret Thatcher and John Major ran down the NHS in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

How can we in East Devon help the big national change which is needed? Our first priority must be to keep Richard as our MP in the election which is due in 2024. The constituency boundaries have changed and reading between the lines it looks likely that he will stand in the new Honiton & Sidmouth constituency. Here he will be up against the Tories’ Simon Jupp, who has done a chicken run from the new Exmouth & East Exeter constituency (where 78 per cent of the people he currently represents live).

Jupp’s shift testifies to the fact that on paper, Honiton & Sidmouth is the safer Tory seat. By the same token, all of us who want to keep the Tories out must rally behind Richard, assuming he is the Lib Dem candidate. It was great in the local elections to be able to vote Independent, Lib Dem, Green or Labour, and see a good mixture of candidates elected. In the general election, it will be a different kettle of fish. Many Tories who stayed at home in the by-election will come out and put their cross against Jupp. If anything, Richard will be the underdog, and he will need absolutely every vote.

Keeping our first non-Tory MP will be an enormous achievement for the area and a boost for the Lib Dem-Independent-Green alliance which runs EDDC. It will also help to ensure that when Starmer takes over from Sunak, we have an independent voice to put our concerns to the new Labour government. Keeping our Lib Dem MP will be a win-win.

It’s time too to start thinking seriously about the General Election options in Exmouth & East Exeter. Jupp is fleeing this seat precisely because it’s a better option for a strong anti-Tory candidate – Independent candidate Claire Wright made it a marginal and was just 5,000 votes behind last time. With Claire out of the picture, it’s important that a single strong challenger emerges to replace her.

I don’t know who that will be, but the worst possible outcome would be a close contest between the Lib Dem and Labour candidates which lets the Tory squeak through the middle. Historically the Lib Dems have been stronger in this seat and they need to choose a credible candidate who can continue where Claire left off. In 2024, both East Devon constituencies could elect progressive MPs. It’s a historic opportunity and we must not let it slip.