Simon Jupp has made these strong claims in his recent election flyer (see images below). Are they true or false? 

Owl sends in the ferrets.

What the ferrets say is that Simon Jupp couldn’t be bothered to turn up when the campaign was launched at a large public meeting on 3 November 2023. Nor did he turn up for any subsequent meetings. 

So it is not surprising that he wasn’t chosen to be on the 10 member local committee. Since there are only 2 Lib Dems on the committee they can’t be described as “controlling” it either, indeed it is genuinely cross-party and includes conservatives. He eventually contacted one of the committee members, and in the end three of them had a zoom meeting with him.

But why should he be part of the campaign? Until the election was called, Simon Jupp was MP for East Devon. Seaton’s MP was Richard Foord, MP for Tiverton and Honiton. So this local issue lay outside his “Parish” – so to speak. He should have been devoting all his energies on sorting out his constituents’ problems in Exmouth, Cranbrook and Sidmouth. 

The ferrets also question whether Simon (gofer in the Department of Transport) has any relevant experience in saving hospitals. It is Tory policies that are closing them and Simon is as loyal as they come.