Just under a year ago, in February 2023, Simon Jupp announced he was abandoning 78% of his current constituents as he jumped ship to become the Tory candidate for the new seat of Honiton and Sidmouth.

By June he was “on manoeuvres” on Richard Foord’s turf, trying to gain “face recognition”.  

As Claire Wright wrote on “X” : After months of claiming credit for @RichardFoordLD work, Simon Jupp lodges actual formal complaint against Richard for raising in Parliament, the tragic case of #Ottery victim of the #HorizonScandal . 

This prompted a number of comments including: “The absolute shameless politicising here is by @simonjamesjupp who has done sod all for Ottery or East Devon whilst openly campaigning in his new target seat. How many times did he raise Horizon before the TV programme made it an issue? #ToriesBrokeBritain”

Row after accused Devon subpostmaster’s death raised in Parliament

Lewis Clarke www.devonlive.com 

Two rival MPs clashed over the case of a former Ottery St Mary resident who died before being cleared of false accusations in the Horizon scandal.

The Horizon scandal refers to the faulty IT system used by the Post Office, which wrongly showed shortfalls in the accounts of thousands of subpostmasters, leading to some being prosecuted, sacked, or bankrupted.

Richard Foord, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton & Honiton, who has announced he will be standing as the candidate for the newly formed Honiton & Sidmouth seat in the next general election, raised the issue during a question session to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kevin Hollinrake.

Mr Foord said: “Russell Ward-Best from Ottery St Mary was accused of stealing £17,000. He avoided prosecution by resigning, and another sub-postmaster I represent paid the alleged shortfall to avoid prosecution. Russell Ward-Best was declared bankrupt and died before he was found innocent and cleared. Will the Minister comment on financial redress for all sub-postmasters and their families, including those who were not prosecuted?”

Mr Hollinrake expressed his sympathy for Mr Ward-Best and his family, and said they should be able to get compensation through the historic shortfall scheme, which is designed to reimburse subpostmasters who suffered losses due to the Horizon system.

He said: “That scheme is there to put Mr Ward-Best, if he were still with us, back to where he would have been had this detriment not occurred, and that can take into account things such as bankruptcy. That money would then be paid to his estate, which would then flow through to his family. The same compensation is available, despite Mr Ward-Best very sadly no longer being with us.”

However, the exchange sparked a furious reaction from Simon Jupp, the Conservative MP for East Devon, who is also vying for the Honiton & Sidmouth seat. He accused Mr Foord of politicising the death of Mr Ward-Best, and said he hoped he had informed the family beforehand to avoid further hurt.

He took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to write: “Earlier in Parliament, Richard Foord shamefully tried to politicise the death of a former Ottery resident in a question regarding the Horizon scandal. I hope he had the courtesy to inform the family beforehand to avoid further hurt. I’m making a formal complaint to the Speaker.

“Richard is not the MP for Ottery St Mary, but is launching his campaign there. I understand you may not know this, given you are quite far away, but nothing excuses this shameless politicising from a sitting MP from your party.”

This is not the first time the two sitting MPs have exchanged fiery words. In December, Mr Foord referred to Mr Jupp as ‘member for Exmouth ’ in a debate, to which Mr Jupp demanded an apology, saying: “He referred to me as the MP for Exmouth, but my constituency also includes Sidmouth and I should be referred to as the MP for East Devon. He has done this politically in local newspapers and leaflets.

“I seek an apology for my constituency being named incorrectly, and a promise from the hon. Gentleman that he will not do so again.”

Mr Foord did not respond to Mr Jupp’s request.