Consultation launched in bid to shape the future of Exmouth’s town centre and seafront

Dan Wilkins www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

People in Exmouth are being asked to share their thoughts on how the regeneration of Exmouth’s town centre and seafront should look. 

A new consultation is being launched in the form of a series of public workshops and an online questionnaire – both aimed at gauging ideas on how the town and seafront should look. 

A Placemaking in Exmouth Town and Seafront Group has been created – led by East Devon District Council (EDDC) – and is looking to gather opinions of residents and visitors on shaping future developments in the town. 

The online questionnaire went live on Thursday (June 23) and will close near the end of August. 

Two workshops will be held at Ocean, in Queen’s Drive, on Thursday, July 14, from 7pm and on Sunday, July 31, from 10am until 12.30pm. 

Two further workshops will be held for stakeholders and officials. 

South West Research Company will also be conducting 400 on-street face-to-face interviews in July and August – 150 and 250 interviews respectively, on behalf of the council. 

All the views gathered will be used to help shape developments in Exmouth town centre and seafront in the future. 

Councillor Paul Arnott, EDDC leader, said: “Exmouth is by far the biggest community in East Devon, and it is vital to listen to the opinions and wishes of local people.   

“We are very grateful indeed to all the town councillors, local residents and stakeholders who have advised us on how best to approach this new consultation and now look forward to hearing what everyone wishes to say. Thank you for taking part.” 

Councillor Nick Hookway, portfolio holder for tourism, sport, leisure and culture, said: “At the first stakeholder session, which was held last Monday, there were many comments on how Exmouth needs to unlock the puzzle that visitors often experience when moving around the town centre to get to the Seafront.  

“Exmouth is blessed with a superb seafront and together with the Exe Estuary Exmouth is an attractive place to visit.  

“Exmouth is a lovely place to live and work in as well. However, there is a need to develop new places that will enhance the town, improve the visitor experience and provide better amenities for residents. New developments will lead to economic growth and provide job opportunities.  

“EDDC would like to hear the views of residents as these new placemaking proposals are put forward. May I encourage as many residents as possible to take a few minutes to complete the consultation.” 

Anyone who wants a copy of the consultation on paper should email exmouthconsultation@eastdevon.gov.uk or call 01395 519960 by Friday, 12 August to discuss. 

To take the questionnaire, visit https://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/exmouth-consultation-summer-2022/

See video on DevonLive link

Lewis Clarke www.devonlive.com

After a historic and humiliating defeat in the Tiverton & Honiton by-election, Conservative candidate Helen Hurford disappeared via a back door. Video shows the moment she arrived smiling at the count just before the results were announced before slipping away from public gaze.

Accompanied by Tory party officials, she arrived at the count before hiding away in a back room. When approached by DevonLive reporter Lewis Clarke her agent says “We are not speaking” and ushers Mr Hurford away. She simply smiles and says “Oh have they” after being told that the Liberal Democrats have just declared a spectacular win, as the votes stacked in their favour and the 24,000 Tory majority is slashed, with a 30 per cent swing to the Lib Dems.

Ms Hurford and her supporters remained in the back room until the results were announced , with the Liberal Democrats winning 22,537 votes, and the Tories in second place on 16,393. After her ignominious defeat she hastily left the building without any public statement or comment to the press.

The contest triggered by the resignation of disgraced Tory MP Neil Parish offered voters the chance to give their verdict on Prime Minister Boris Johnson just weeks after 41 per cent of his own MPs cast their ballots against him.

Today Oliver Dowden has resigned as chairman of the Conservative Party saying in a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson that “someone must take responsibility” for defeats at Tiverton and Honiton in Devon and Wakefield in Yorkshire which was won by Labour.

Devon’s new Lib Dem MP Richard Foord used his acceptance speech to call for Mr Johnson “to go, and go now”, claiming his victory had “sent a shockwave through British politics”.

East Devon District Council’s leader Councillor Paul Arnott has congratulated Tiverton and Honiton’s new MP – Richard Foord.

eastdevondistrc-newsroom.prgloo.com 

East Devon District Council’s leader, Councillor Paul Arnott said:

“Huge congratulations to Richard Foord for a brilliant campaign run with truth, passion and courtesy. We look forward enormously to a brilliant and effective working relationship with EDDC, where the Democratic Alliance, including the LibDems, is now in a third year of control.

“The Tories were ejected from East Devon after 45 years of running the council in 2019. And now with tonight’s results, it was not just a negative vote against Mr Johnson, it is a historic win for the majority of people who live in this amazing place.

“Richard and I will now meet on Friday to discuss how we will work together with immediate effect for the public good.”

ENDS

Helen Hurford’s disappearing act at Tiverton and Honiton by-election will likely prove the most memorable moment of a lacklustre campaign

By Nick Gutteridge, Political Correspondent and Will Bolton www.telegraph.co.uk Extract

“She’s locked herself in a room!” Astonishment rippled through the assembled press pack as, barricaded in a dance studio, Helen Hurford, the Tory candidate in the Tiverton and Honiton by-election, prepared to hear her fate.

Her early morning disappearing act at a leisure centre in southern Devon will likely prove to be the most memorable moment of a Conservative campaign that failed to spark into life.

Comparisons will inevitably be drawn with the famous occasion when, during the 2019 general election battle, Boris Johnson hid in a fridge to escape from the television cameras. 

Indeed, the Prime Minister dominated the Tiverton and Honiton by-election, just not in a way that Ms Hurford or the Tories would have wished. 

In a terrible night for the Tories, they lost a huge majority in Tiverton and Honiton and surrendered Wakefield to Labour.

The Conservative candidate and her supporters in Tiverton seemed shell-shocked by the result, which saw the party surrender a record 24,239 majority to the Liberal Democrats. 

She arrived at the Lords Meadow leisure centre in Crediton just before 3.30am, bolting past the assembled reporters towards a safe haven. 

Her team directed her towards a dance studio next to the main counting hall which, ironically, had been set aside for media interviews with the candidates. 

For the next 25 minutes they refused to let anybody in as a bigger and bigger media scrum assembled outside until, with the result imminent, she had to make a dash for it. 

Ms Hurford ducked a volley of questions about her defeat and the role of the Prime Minister and dashed next door to hear her fate confirmed. 

But there was one final indignity for the Conservative candidate, which came when she stumbled while filing towards the stage for the reading out of the results……

“Mr Johnson’s problem is not simply that his party has lost support. Rather, many opposition voters are now seemingly willing to vote for whichever candidate seems best able to defeat the Conservatives locally. And if that continues, winning the next general election could begin to look a lot more difficult.“

John Curtice www.thetimes.co.uk 

The results in Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton do not make easy reading for the Conservatives.

The 12.7 per cent swing from Conservative to Labour in Wakefield would, if replicated everywhere, be enough to deliver a Labour overall majority.

Meanwhile, as many as 333 Tory MPs could lose their seat if they suffered the 29.9 per cent swing from Conservative to Liberal Democrat registered in Tiverton & Honiton.

However, by-elections provide an exaggerated picture of a government’s mid-term electoral problems. The swings registered in the two by-elections would not necessarily have occurred in a general election on Thursday. To assess the significance of the results we should compare them with past by-elections rather than extrapolate them to a general election.

By that standard, Labour’s performance in Wakefield was creditable. The swing to the party from the Conservatives is the highest recorded so far in any by-election in this parliament, as is the 8.1 point increase in Labour’s own share of the vote.

However, the swing is no higher than that recorded when Labour last made a by-election gain in Corby ten years ago, and is somewhat less than the 13.6 per cent swing recorded the same year when the party successfully defended Middlesborough.

Indeed, there were no less than ten by-elections in the 2010-15 parliament when Labour’s share of the vote rose by more than it did on Thursday – yet the party still lost in 2015.

In short, Wakefield provides less than decisive evidence of a new enthusiasm for Labour. Indeed, it is striking that the 17.3 point fall in the Conservative tally was more than twice the 8.1 point increase in Labour support.

Much of the damage to the Conservatives appears to have been done by a former local Tory councillor who stood as an Independent after calling for Boris Johnson to resign and won as much as 7.6 per cent of the vote.

The Liberal Democrats certainly have reason to be cock-a-hoop about their success in Tiverton & Honiton. The 38.1 point increase in their share of the vote was slightly above the equivalent figure of 37.2 points in North Shropshire in December. Indeed, it represented the third biggest ever rise in the party’s support in a previously Conservative held seat.

Yet the 21.7 point fall in Conservative support in Tiverton was only a little higher than in Wakefield and was well down on the 31.1 point fall the party suffered in North Shropshire. Indeed, there are no less than 19 previous post-war by-elections where the Conservative fell more heavily in a seat the party was attempting to defend.

Bad though Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton might be for the Conservatives, the results suggest that at least the party’s electoral plight may be no worse now than it was a few months ago at the height of the ‘partygate’ row.

However, there is a very significant fly in the Conservative ointment.

The 14.4 point Liberal Democrat majority over the Conservatives was a little less than the sharp 15.8 point drop in Labour’s share of the vote. While not all those who defected from Labour will have switched to the Liberal Democrats, it is highly likely that many did so, and their decision may have been crucial to the Liberal Democrat victory. Meanwhile, more than half the already diminutive Liberal Democrat vote in Wakefield fell away too.

Mr Johnson’s problem is not simply that his party has lost support. Rather, many opposition voters are now seemingly willing to vote for whichever candidate seems best able to defeat the Conservatives locally. And if that continues, winning the next general election could begin to look a lot more difficult.

Sir John Curtice is a professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde and senior research fellow, NatCen Social Research and The UK in a Changing Europe.

He expresses loyalty to the party but, significantly, not to Big Dog BoJO – Owl

The boss of Devon County Council has outlined the case for a devolution deal from the government, with Torbay part of the arrangement. Devon is one of nine areas given provisional backing to make more decisions locally. When finalised, it is hoped councils will be given extra powers.

Ollie Heptinstall www.devonlive.com

Talks with Whitehall departments are now under way, the county council’s chief executive Dr Phil Norrey revealed on Monday. The council is working with fellow unitary authorities Plymouth and Torbay on the deal, together with Devon’s eight district councils.

Speaking to Today on BBC Radio 4, Dr Norrey said decisions on how government money should be spent are better made locally. “We’ve got a better idea of what matters to local people and where we’re going to have the biggest impact,” he said.

“And the reality is that central government’s very compartmentalised and we have the opportunity to bring together the various agendas on the ground – linking up things like our response to climate change, housing, economy and skills, and transport.” Any major democratic reorganisation – such as having an elected mayor for Devon, or creating one overall council similar to Cornwall and Somerset – has already been ruled out.

Instead, a combined authority without a mayor may be set up. In February, Devon issued a statement saying this would “enable councils to work together strategically whilst respecting the sovereignty of their respective authorities.” Dr Norrey added they were speaking to the different branches of the government: “to see how far we can push our ambitions, and we are a very ambitious partnership across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.”

It is possible that a deal for Devon could be finalised by the autumn.

Could there be a new by election coming up in Somerton and Frome? – Owl

Sophia Sleigh www.huffingtonpost.co.uk 

Suspended Tory MP David Warburton is under investigation by Parliament’s sleaze watchdog.

The Somerton and Frome MP had the Conservative whip withdrawn earlier this year after a series of allegations relating to sexual harassment and cocaine use.

On Wednesday, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards said they had launched an investigation into separate allegations surrounding possible breaches of Commons lobbying rules and the register of interests.

The commissioner’s website says the investigation is into “paid advocacy”, “declaration of an interest” and registration of an interest under a category relating to “gifts, benefits and hospitality” from UK sources.

Meanwhile, parliament’s harassment watchdog, the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, is probing claims made against Warburton by three women.

The Sunday Times also reported allegations that Warburton had taken cocaine and that he had failed to declare a £100,000 loan from a Russian businessman.

The married father-of-two previously denied the allegations, telling the Sunday Telegraph: “I have enormous amounts of defence, but unfortunately the way that things work means that doesn’t come out first.

“I have heard nothing whatsoever from the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. I’m sorry, I can’t comment any further.”

Owl recently recorded the fact that the “Boris brand” had devalued by 60% since he became Prime Minister. Now there iit appears there is more to the story including prophetic reference to a place called “Tiverton”

The dinner party from hell: Boris, Theresa and Dave

John Crace www.theguardian.com

Earlier this week, the Conservative party raised money by auctioning off the chance for a supporter to have supper with Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron.

John Crace earwigged one awkward conversation …

David Cameron: (Silence)

Boris Johnson: (Silence)

Theresa May: (Silence)

Cameron: Um …

Johnson: Er …

May: (Silence)

Donor: This is fun …

Cameron: Yes …

May: Is it?

Johnson: Shall we order some more wine?

May: Just try not to spill it this time.

Cameron: So what inspired you to pay £120k for dinner?

Donor: I was actually the underbidder. The woman who pledged the most said she’d pay almost anything not to have dinner with you. But since I’m here, I’d quite fancy a place in the Lords.

Johnson: Consider it done. Now when do I get my cut?

Donor: Sorry?

Johnson: The £60k for talking to you lot…

Cameron: I think you’ll find it was a donation to the Conservative party.

Johnson: Oh. I’d never have offered if I’d known.

Donor: But can I still have a peerage?

Johnson: Let’s talk later. In private.

Cameron: (Silence)

Johnson: (Silence)

May: (Silence)

Cameron: Tiverton is nice this time of year.

Johnson: Why are you bringing up Tiverton?

Cameron: No reason… Sam and I just happened to be driving through the area on the way to stay with Hugo and Sasha Swire. Do you know the Swires?

May: No.

Cameron: Hugo was a junior minister in the Foreign Office when you were home secretary …

May: (Silence)

Donor: So … how do you all think Brexit is going?

Cameron: (Silence)

May: (Silence)

Johnson: Marvellously. Never better. The UK is booming. Bozza Builds Back Better.

Cameron: As in the economy is taking a 4% hit to GDP during a cost of living crisis.

Johnson: Stop talking Britain down, Dave. Jacob Rees-Mogg is getting rid of a European law that would force the UK to have the same phone chargers as other EU countries. So now we’ll have to buy a different one whenever we go abroad. That’s what I mean when I say I’m “getting Brexit done”.

Cameron: Admit it, Boris. Being prime minister is a lot harder work than you expected …

Johnson: It’s certainly very badly paid. I’ve never been so broke in my life. I used to get £275k per year for churning out any old bobbins for the Telegraph. Now I actually have to do a full day’s work. And I only earn about £150k.

Cameron: Though you do have Lord Brownlow to pick up the tab for soft furnishings and other living expenses. By the way, well done for getting rid of Lord Geidt. He did rather hamper your style …

Johnson: Well, there’s no point in having an ethics adviser if you don’t have any ethics … Anyway, tell me. How much do you both pull in as former prime ministers?

Cameron: Well, most of the time life is fairly dull. I just sit in my shepherd’s hut waiting for the phone to ring. But it seldom does. No one really wants to hear what I’ve got to say about anything any more …

Donor: I know what you mean …

Cameron: Still, I did get £800k for my really boring memoir. You should get a lot more if you publish your diaries about how you stabbed me in the back …

Johnson: You’re not still bitter about that are you? It’s your own fault. If you hadn’t been so lazy and slapdash you’d never have lost the referendum. And besides, I betray everyone. That’s what I do. Just ask Marina and all the other women …

May: I’m earning a fortune.

Johnson: WTF?

Cameron: WTF?

May: I’m inundated with offers to give speeches …

Johnson: People pay you to speak?

May: Yes. Well over £100k for little more than 30 minutes …

Johnson: I’m amazed.

May: Yes, people are still interested in the Malthouse compromise …

Cameron: I suppose it was no more idiotic than the Northern Ireland protocol. After all Boris went to all the trouble of negotiating a Brexit deal only to have to renege on his own treaty and is now having to renegotiate from scratch. Good luck with that.

Johnson: (Silence)

Cameron: (Silence)

May: (Silence)

Donor: So …

Cameron: So …

May: Geoffrey Boycott.

Cameron: What about him?

May: He was a great cricketer. I once saw him make 17 between lunch and tea in a Test against Pakistan at Lords.

Cameron: And?

May: And nothing. That was it. Geoffrey Boycott.

Donor: OK … Then how do you think you’ll all be remembered?

Cameron: I hope history will be kind. It’s not my fault I took my eye off the ball. Don’t forget I was prime minister for a lot longer than Theresa. And almost certainly Boris as well. Plus I did get a better degree at Oxford than Boris …

Johnson: That’s because you were a girly swot. I will definitely go down as one of the all time greats. The first prime minister who picked up a criminal record. If only Sue Gray and the Met had managed to find out what we really got up to in No 10! The prime minister who stoked division and failed to level up the country. The man who put a smile on refugee faces with his world-leading Rwanda plan …

May: Well I want it on record that I was a lot more popular than Boris. I won my no-confidence vote by a higher percentage of votes than he did.

Johnson: But I am going to hang on …

May: Not if I have anything to do with it.

Cameron: Now, now.

Johnson: (Silence)

May: (Silence)

Cameron: (Silence)

Johnson: As we’re here, I do have one last favour to ask. Carrie is finding it really hard to get a job. Preferably around £100k for a three-day week. Can any of you help her out?

May: Maybe that idiot Jonathan Gullis needs an unpaid intern …

Donor: Didn’t you ask for something similar for Jennifer Arcuri?

Cameron: Shall we give dessert a miss?

Donor: I rather wish we’d done the same with the main course …

Johnson: Can anyone lend me £20 for a cab? I seem to have come out without any money …

Cameron: (Silence)

Donor: (Silence)

May: (Silence)

At PMQs on Wednesday

John Crace www.theguardian.com (Extract)

….First though, was a question from Labour’s Chris Elmore. Could Johnson confirm or deny whether he has ever tried to blag a job in government or the royal household for his girlfriend – now wife – Carrie Johnson? Bubbles of nonsense dribbled from the Convict’s mouth. What he had done is find lots of other people a job. Which must be why so many people are out of work. But no outright denial. Everyone was just amazed that he hadn’t lied.

So we can take that as a yes, then. After all, Johnson’s only interest in institutions and their safeguards is in how they can be twisted and corrupted to his ends. What is the point of going to all that trouble to become foreign secretary or prime minister if you’re not going to try to use your influence to find your lover a job?

Hell, he’d bought off his own brother with a peerage. He’d given Evgeny Lebedev a peerage. Even Evgeny’s friends have yet to work out if he exists in three dimensions. Mostly he resembles a bearded cardboard cutout. A billionaire without quality. And it’s rumoured he plans to elevate Paul Dacre to the Lords. So finding his latest lover a cushy number was a complete no-brainer. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be paid £100k for doing next to nothing in the Foreign Office if the only other job on offer was as a £10k cleaner in a care home?

With the Convict visibly rattled, Starmer pounced. The Tory candidate in the Wakefield byelection had been put to a vote of no confidence by his own party. Did that ring any bells? Maybe Johnson should consider himself as something of a trendsetter. Buy one, get one free. Maybe there was a run on useless people standing for office in the Conservatives. And was there a reason Boris hadn’t actually bothered to visit Wakefield? Had he decided that two crap people nobody wants, standing next to each other, wasn’t the best of looks?

“Pifflepafflewifflewaffle.” Johnson splurged, his face turning crimson with the exertion of trying to speak in intelligible sentences. “But what about the rail strikes?” Ah, glad you’ve mentioned them, said Starmer. He might have gone media-shy the previous day but he was now all ready for a conversation.

What on earth had the Convict and Grant Shapps been doing with themselves for the past few months? Had the transport secretary got stuck on holiday in Málaga again? Only two years ago he had had to cancel his hols before they had started as he hadn’t realised the government’s own health regulations had changed. How stupid do you need to be to become a cabinet minister these days?

Still Johnson and Shapps had both turned up at a Tory fundraiser at the V&A this week, where Johnson had found some sucker willing to pay £120k for dinner with him, Theresa May and David Cameron. Most sane rich people would pay more than that to get out of a dinner with that cast list. At least then you could escape without Boris trying to shag you. Presumably there were no takers for a day of Create Your Own Ponzi Scheme with Michael Green…….

(And nobody should be allowed to confuse facts with fiction – Owl)

Simon Jupp weighs in on the rail strike, following the party line, but he needs to pay attention to detail and up his game.

For example he says: “The government cannot support union demands for pay increases of 11%“

This looks to Owl’s fact checker to be grossly misleading.

Sky news reports: Striking rail workers are asking for a 7% pay rise, despite CPI inflation at 9.1% and RPI at 11.7%. NHS workers and teachers have also threatened to walk out if the government doesn’t up their pay deals. (The Telegraph carries a similar report) 

And remember that the Treasury plans to return to the “triple lock” system, by which the state pension is increased annually in line with inflation (CPI), average earnings or a flat rate of 2.5 per cent, whichever is highest. The “triple lock” was suspended for 2022/23.

The next rise, which will take place in April 2023, will be based on the reading of the consumer price index (CPI) this coming September, when it is expected to reach 10 per cent.

Nobody should be allowed to grind public transport to a halt 

Simon Jupp www.devonlive.com

Many of us in East Devon use the railway regularly to get to school, work, or see friends and family. The railways also connect many of our rural communities with Exeter, including Lympstone, Whimple and Cranbrook. It’s a vital service for many, every day.

As readers will be aware, RMT union members are on strike this week in a dispute with Network Rail over their pay, staffing cuts and working conditions. I’m concerned by the potential for this large-scale industrial action to continue over the summer, disrupting vital services, NHS appointments, and GCSE exams.

There will be disruption to our recovering hospitality and tourism businesses in Exmouth, Topsham, and elsewhere, with people unable to reach hotels or honour restaurant reservations. In addition, the strikes could exasperate existing national trends of working from home, damaging productivity and high street businesses. This will also add extra unnecessary stress on to students who are due to take important exams this week, with schools already writing to parents worried about their children missing tests because they can’t get to school.

The government cannot support union demands for pay increases of 11%. As we know, there’s no such thing as government money – it’s your money. Despite £16 billion of emergency subsidy during the pandemic, the technological reforms necessary to make further funding sustainable are being blocked by militant unions.

One of these reforms is much talked about – the closure of ticket offices. As well as reducing staffing costs, this will allow station staff to be better placed on the platforms, directing travellers and assisting with any accessibility requirements. Because many people purchase their train tickets online and access them on their smart phone, it’s right the government is looking at ways to modernise the railway. Not everyone is on the internet or has access to a smart phone and those people must still be able to buy or collect their tickets from the station. Whilst systems should be modernised, the railways must remain accessible for everyone and I will be pushing the government on this.

The strike action is taking place on Tuesday 21 ^st , Thursday 24 ^th and Saturday 26 ^th June, with only a skeleton service on these days. The action has been designed for maximum disruption and the whole week will be severely impacted. We’re being particularly affected in the South West and I’m in frequent discussions with the railway companies, including GWR and SWR, on how they plan to mitigate the disruption for us here in East Devon.

On the strike days, GWR say they are running some services on the Devon mainline to Paddington but these are starting late and finish early. GWR expects these will be busy. GWR are not running services along the Avocet line between Exmouth and Exeter. SWR are not running services west of Basingstoke, also known as the West of England line. That means no trains between Exeter and Whimple, Cranbrook and Honiton.

The scheduling for the intervening days looks better with services across the network akin to typical Sundays. There is the potential for a slow start though, with trains and drivers starting the day in the wrong place to begin a normal service.

We’re experiencing a staggering level of disruption – triggered by the unreasonable demands of left-wing unions and supported by the Labour Party. It cannot happen again. I sit on the Transport Select Committee, and I will be pressing the case for legislation requiring minimum service levels on the railway network.

Whilst passenger numbers on the railways are doing well locally, they are still some way off pre-pandemic levels nationally. These strikes will have put some people off the railway for good. If we want to get more people to use public transport, we can’t let unions dictate when people can get to where they need to be. Nobody should be allowed to grind public transport to a halt.

Lib Dems win Tiverton and Honiton byelection, overturning huge Tory majority, gaining 6,144 majority.

Oliver Dowden quits as Tory party chairman, Boris claims his own resignation would be “crazy”, Helen Hurford fails to take the stage when results declared even to giver her thanks to the returning officer.

Richard Foord’s acceptance speech in full

After the results were declared, the new MP new Lib Dem MP for Tiverton and Honiton addressed the crowd and said:

“I’d like to thank the Returning Officer, her staff and my fellow candidates for a well run election and count.

“To my wife Kate, and our three wonderful children – thank you. I couldn’t have done this without your love.

“I’d like to thank my election agent Simon Drage, my incredible campaign team, the local party members and Liberal Democrat supporters here in Tiverton & Honiton, and the thousands of Liberal Democrat campaigners from across the country who came to volunteer with me here in Devon.

“Your extraordinary efforts have delivered a historic result and sent a shockwave through British politics

“Tonight, the people of Tiverton & Honiton have spoken for Britain. They’ve sent a loud and clear message: It’s time for Boris Johnson to go. And go now.

“Ours is a great country and there’s no greater part of it than Devon. But every day Boris Johnson clings to office, he brings further shame, chaos and neglect.

“I’ve heard about the pain people are suffering as the cost of living crisis starts to bite.

“Yet when Boris Johnson could be fighting for farmers, for our NHS and for rural services, he’ll be fighting once again to save his own skin.

“I also have a simple message for those Conservative MPs propping up this failing Prime Minister:

“The Liberal Democrats are coming.

“If you don’t take action to restore decency, respect and British values to Downing Street, you too will face election defeats like the one we have seen here tonight.

“It is time to do what’s right for our country. You know in your heart that your leader is not the person to lead this great nation into the future.

“Across the country, the Liberal Democrats are taking on the Conservatives and winning.

“Thousands of lifelong Conservative voters, appalled by Boris Johnson’s lies and fed up with being taken for granted.

“Thousands of Labour voters, choosing to lend their votes to the candidate with the best chance of beating the Conservatives.

“Thousands of people who believe our politics should be about building a better life for everyone, not a daily parade of self-serving chaos.

“All of them, voting for the Liberal Democrats.

“These are difficult times for our country.

“The cost of living crisis – as we know here in Devon – is hitting hard: people are being forced to choose between filling up their car, or putting food on the table.

“Our local NHS is teetering on the brink.

“Our rural economy is in a precarious state with people’s livelihoods at risk.

“Our country is crying out for leadership.

“I served as an officer in the British Army for 10 years, Mr Johnson.

“I can tell you that leadership means acting with decency and integrity. It means keeping your word. It means setting an example and putting other people’s needs before your own.

“I served alongside friends who personified these values, and laid down their lives in service of their country.

“And yet your behaviour Mr Johnson, makes a mockery of leadership. By any measure, you are unfit to lead.

“The people of Tiverton & Honiton have told you tonight that enough is enough. They demand a change.

“The only decent course of action left open to you is to heed their call and resign.

“I want to pay tribute to Ed Davey.

“Ed, thanks to you the Liberal Democrats are taking on Boris Johnson across the blue wall and winning. From Chesham & Amersham to North Shropshire to here in Tiverton & Honiton.

“You believed from the start that this result was possible. You rallied our troops and led from the front.

“Whether it is on the streets of Seaton or Bampton, Honiton or Branscombe, Axminster or Tiverton, you have led the charge for change.

“But finally, and most importantly of all, thank you to the people of Tiverton & Honiton, and everyone in our part of Devon.

“For your support throughout this campaign.

“For putting your faith in me to be your champion in Parliament.

“But finally, and most importantly of all, thank you to the people of Tiverton & Honiton, and everyone in our part of Devon.

“For your support throughout this campaign.

“For putting your faith in me to be your champion in Parliament.

“As your local MP, I promise I will work tirelessly for you. I will always put local people and our communities first.

“Whether you supported me or supported someone else, I want to let you know, I’m here to represent you and to stand up for everyone in Tiverton & Honiton.

“I will never take you for granted.

“Thank you.”

No words from the Conservatives

Helen Hurford did not take to the stage following the declaration

How Tiverton and Honiton voted – results in full

Full results of Tiverton and Honiton by-election.

Liberal Democrat gain from Conservatives.

Richard Foord (LD) 22,537 (52.91%, +38.14%)

Helen Hurford (C) 16,393 (38.49%, -21.72%)

Liz Pole (Lab) 1,562 (3.67%, -15.88%)

Gill Westcott (Green) 1,064 (2.50%, -1.34%)

Andy Foan (Reform) 481 (1.13%)

Ben Walker (UKIP) 241 (0.57%, -1.06%)

Jordan Donoghue-Morgan (Heritage) 167 (0.39%)

Frankie Rufolo (FB) 146 (0.34%)

LD maj 6,144 (14.43%)

29.93% swing C to LD

Electorate 81,661; Turnout 42,591 (52.16%, -19.71%)

2019: C maj 24,239 (40.66%) – Turnout 59,613 (71.86%)

Parish (C) 35,893 (60.21%); Pole (Lab) 11,654 (19.55%); Timperley (LD) 8,807 (14.77%); Reed (Green) 2,291 (3.84%); Dennis (UKIP) 968 (1.62%)

TV chef and environment campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has apologised to the Green Party for voting Liberal Democrat in the Tiverton and Honiton by-election. The chef runs his River Cottage food and farming operation, featured in a popular Channel 4 series, from an organic smallholding near Axminster, in East Devon.

Edward Oldfield www.devonlive.com 

He revealed his vote in Thursday’s by-election a series of tweets, complaining about the “unfair” election system. He said it was the only way to “unseat the Tories”. He explained: “I’m voting in the Honiton and Tiverton by-election today. And I’m afraid I’m going to break a pledge I made a year ago, when I joined the Green Party. I said I was fed up of voting tactically and made a commitment to vote Green at every opportunity.

“I simply wanted my green vote to be counted, even when I knew I couldn’t really make it count. A system where one million General Election votes gets the Tories 20 MPs but the Greens only 1 is a grossly unfair system.

“So unfair that there are times when the opportunity to “game it to change it” becomes almost impossible to resist. Today I have such an opportunity, a chance to cast a vote that might actually have an impact on that system.

“It’s going to be very tight, but if we can unseat the Tories here today we can, in a small but not insignificant way, shift the dial towards a progressive alliance and perhaps ultimately a more representative democracy.

“And so, with apologies to my friends in the Green Party, of which I remain proud to be a member, today I will be voting for the Lib Dems. I will not feel as good or as honest as I would voting green. But in a contest that could well go to the wire, I feel it’s what I have to do.”

Eight candidates are standing for election in the Tiverton and Honiton constituency after Conservative MP Neil Parish resigned for watching pornography on his phone in the House of Commons. The Conservatives are defending a majority of more than 24,000 from the 2019 General Election, with the main challenge coming from the Liberal Democrats who believe they can take the seat.

Pollsters suggest the Liberal Democrats have the best chance of taking the seat from the Tories, after recent by-election successes in North Shropshire and Chesham and Amersham in Buckinghamshire. The Tiverton and Honiton vote is on the same day as a by-election in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, following the resignation of the Conservative MP after a conviction for sexual assault. Labour are poised to regain the seat, which they lost in 2019.

The Tiverton and Honiton Conservative candidate Helen Hurford, a head teacher turned beauty salon owner, says she is the only one who can work with the Tory government to deliver improvements. The main challenger, Liberal Democrat Richard Foord, a former Army major who served in Kosovo and Iraq, says the Conservatives have taken for granted what they see as a safe seat.

The by-elections are also being seen as a test of the prime minister’s popularity and the government’s record following the Downing Street parties and the cost of living crisis. The latest polling for the Liberal Democrats in Tiverton and Honiton suggested they and the Conservatives were neck-and-neck on 45 per cent each.

The Tiverton AND Honiton seat has been held by the Tories since its creation in 1997. MP Neil Parish won a majority of 24,239 in 2019. Polling stations for the by-elections in Wakefield in West Yorkshire and Tiverton and Honiton will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday, with the results expected between 4am and 6am on Friday.

Don’t let this spoof come true:

Link here

Decision has been going back and forth

Teignmouth Hospital’s fate looks to be sealed after councillors decided not to refer NHS plans to close it back to the health secretary.

Ollie Heptinstall, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

The community hospital on Mill Lane, the first to be built by the NHS in 1954,  is due to close, with services moving to Dawlish Hospital and a new £8 million health centre in Teignmouth town centre.

Devon County Council’s health and adult care scrutiny committee referred the decision to the health secretary last year, because it was unhappy with the lack of consultation over the hospital’s future.

Sajid Javid then asked panel of independent experts called the IRP to review the situation. It ruled that the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) consultation was “adequate,” thus paving the way for closure.

However, the IRP also said there were “lessons to be learned for both parties,” adding the NHS must engage with the local community to “determine the future” of the community hospital.

Speaking at a meeting of the committee on Tuesday [21 June], representatives from the NHS defended the “modernisation” plans for healthcare in the town, despite criticism from a number of public speakers and councillors.

Teignbridge District Council vice chairman Chris Clarence called for another referral to the health secretary “on a question of medical service provision in the local community.”

The Tory councillor said: “The majority of you [the committee] are of the same political persuasion as me – a Conservative. How does this possible closure of Teignmouth Hospital look to the local community when our leader Boris Johnson is advocating building more hospitals?

“Yet here we are, the South Devon NHS Trust, considering the closure of one. Let’s hope a referral to the secretary of state triggering an examination by the IRP will lead to the obvious conclusion of retaining Teignmouth Hospital with some beds back in it.”

Campaigners claim community beds are “desperately needed.” A petition signed by over a thousand people urged the NHS to keep the hospital open.

But at this week’s meeting, health leaders said the new integrated care model, which includes aiming to avoid admissions into hospitals where possible, is the “direction of travel we’re going to take across Devon.”

Jo Turl, director of out-of-hospital commissioning, explained: “We can care for four times as many individuals at home, using the same level of staffing, same resources, rather than having those individuals in beds.”

She continued: “We can care for a lot more people by doing it this way, but also the outcomes are better for those individuals as well.”

Councillor Tracy Adams (Labour, Pinhoe & Mincinglake), while saying the plan was “very exciting,” questioned whether tsufficient workers were available to provide care at home, given the current “difficulties of getting any care workers.”

Shelly Machin, system director at Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust, said: We’ve done well with our recruitment into our intermediate care teams, our teams that are providing support in the community, because it is seen as being part of something really quite special.”

Cllr David Cox (Lib Dem) stressed the importance of retaining the hospital, particularly for people who don’t need acute care but can’t be taken home. He said it could be run by the voluntary sector rather the NHS.

He proposed the committee referred the decision to Mr Javid again, saying the closure is “not in the interests of the health service of the area,” but a majority of members voted against.

Instead they agreed to a recommendation which includes noting the progress and outcomes in the NHS report and to “continue to build on the recent progress in working more closely together.”

The NHS will submit a planning application for the new health centre on Brunswick Street at the end of August or in September. It comes after Teignbridge District Council agreed to sell the land to Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust in April.

Speaking when the decision was made, Cllr Richard Keeling (Lib Dem, Chudleigh), the council’s executive member for corporate resources, said: “This has been a positive collaboration with the NHS to provide a modern and accessible health care hub in the centre of a flourishing seaside town; bringing together doctors, surgeries and other care facilities.”

Work is expected to start on the building in early in 2023 and take around 18 months.

The largest of Teignmouth’s two existing GP practices – Channel View Medical Group – will move into the centre when it opens but the other one has decided not to.

In addition, it is planned to be occupied by:

• The health and wellbeing team, comprising community nurses, therapists and social workers
• Community clinics including podiatry, physiotherapy and audiology
• Specialist orthopaedic outpatient clinics and specialist ear nose and throat services
• The voluntary sector in the form of Volunteering in Health
• Potentially one of the existing Teignmouth pharmacies
• Councillors were also told the NHS will engage with the community about the future use of the Teignmouth Hospital site, with no decision made on selling it yet.

It has been designated as an “asset of community value”, meaning the local community will have the right to bid for the building should it be put up for sale.

Boris Johnson has survived the verdict of his own MPs – for the time being at least. But on Thursday he faces the judgement of the electorate in two key parliamentary by-elections at opposite ends of England, in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton.

John Curtice www.independent.co.uk 

The verdict from the ballot boxes may not be so kind for the prime minister. Certainly, his party faces a severe challenge in retaining the Wakefield seat. One of the so-called “red wall” seats that the Conservatives gained in 2019 – after not having been victorious locally since 1931 – the party is defending a relatively small seven-and-a-half point majority.

A swing of a little less than 4 per cent from Conservative to Labour would be sufficient for Sir Keir Starmer to reclaim the seat and register his party’s first by-election gain under his leadership.

Labour ought to have little difficulty in surmounting this hurdle. At the moment, the national polls are registering as much as a nine-point swing since the last general election – and by-elections in the middle of a parliament often record markedly bigger swings to the opposition than those in the current national polls, as some voters use the by-election to express a mid-term protest.

True, the Brexit party won six per cent of the vote locally in 2019, votes that the Conservatives might now hope to pick up, but even if they do – and there are plenty of other Eurosceptic options available to voters on the Wakefield ballot paper – this is unlikely to be sufficient to stem the outgoing Tory tide.

Indeed, there are signs that Labour might well win the seat quite comfortably. Voters in the constituency went to the polls just last month in order to vote for their local councilors – and across the constituency Labour were ahead of the Conservatives by 51 per cent to 34 per cent.

Meanwhile two polls conducted early on in the campaign (albeit with limited sample sizes) put Labour at 20 and 23 points ahead. Indeed, a 20 point lead would represent a swing of nearly 14 points, higher than the party has achieved at any by-election since the party lost power at Westminster in 2010.

In truth, this is probably the kind of result that the party needs to achieve if it is to suggest that it might be capable of posing a bigger threat to the Conservatives than it did at the last three general elections.

The other by-election, in Tiverton and Honiton, is very different in character. This is what would usually be regarded as a safe Conservative seat. The party won 60 per cent of the vote in 2019, enough to put it 20 points ahead of Labour, and 25 points of the Liberal Democrats. Only once – in a 1920s by-election – has the area ever elected anything other than a Conservative MP.

Yet, despite starting in third place, the Liberal Democrats are pouring their activists into the constituency. The party hopes to repeat its success last December when, although starting in third place, it took North Shropshire from the Conservatives on a 34-point swing – well above the 23-point swing it now needs in Tiverton and Honiton.

Meanwhile, despite their current third place, the Liberal Democrats have performed strongly in the constituency in the past, most notably almost winning the seat at the 1997 general election. In short, there is a past local tradition of voting Liberal Democrat that the party might hope to revive on Thursday.

Success for the Liberal Democrats is by no means guaranteed. The party is still no stronger in the national polls than it was at the last general election – so it is wholly reliant on the momentum that it can generate locally. Success will depend not only its ability to garner the support of dissatisfied Conservatives but also the tactical support of those who would otherwise vote Labour.

Whether or not Labour’s vote collapses to the benefit of the Liberal Democrats, as it did both in North Shropshire and in the Liberal Democrats’ other by-election success a year ago in Chesham and Amersham, could well be crucial to the outcome.

Indeed, what Labour supporters decide to do in Tiverton and Honiton (and the already small body of Liberal Democrat supporters in Wakefield) could well be the most important feature of Thursday’s two results. In 2019, there was relatively little evidence of anti-Conservative tactical switching (in either direction) among Labour and the Liberal Democrat supporters.

Many Labour supporters had seemingly not forgiven the Liberal Democrats for their involvement in the 2010-15 Tory-led coalition, while many Liberal Democrats regarded backing Labour as a leftward step too far. However, there were signs in last month’s local elections that those days may be over, with both Labour and the Liberal Democrats advancing most strongly in Tory-held wards where they were starting off in second place.

Such a pattern implies that the Conservatives may now not only face the challenge of how to recover the support lost in the wake of Partygate and the cost of living crisis, but also that of overcoming an increased antipathy to Boris Johnson and his government, an antipathy that threatens the party with the prospect of having to fight the next election on two fronts as opposition supporters use whatever stick – be it Labour or the Liberal Democrats – seems the most effective way of beating the Conservatives locally.

As Lady Bracknell might observe, for the Conservatives to lose one by-election on Thursday might be regarded as unfortunate. However, to lose two might look like much more than carelessness – but a sign of a government that is at risk of losing its electoral footing.

John Curtice is professor of politics, Strathclyde University, and senior research fellow at NatCen Social Research and The UK in a Changing Europe

You would be forgiven for thinking the Conservative Party had forgotten how to campaign.

“Frit” – Owl

By David Parsley inews.co.uk 

Throughout large and rural Tiverton and Honiton constituency, there’s barely a Conservative poster to be seen, no sign of the party faithful knocking on doors, and the candidate Helen Hurford is in hiding.

Having seen the former headteacher turned beauty salon owner at two hustings – over the past week – she could not get away with claiming prior diary commitments to avoid those even though she tried – I know there is little point in waiting around to try and speak with her after taking part in the BBC Radio Devon’s candidates’ debate on Tuesday morning.

She tends not to hang around to chat to voters, and a comment to the media is out of the question.

My hunch was that the same would happen again, so instead of watching her leg it to her car after the debate – which is exactly what she did according to those on the ground – I decide to camp outside her campaign headquarters, tucked away from public view between Tiverton and Cullompton, where I listen to the debate and await her inevitable arrival soon after it ended.

The radio debate, in which she announces her plan to deliver “adequate” public services to the people of mid-Devon, ended at 10am. At 10.15am she arrives at HQ with her sidekick, local Tory chairman Gillian Evans.

As she enters the reception area, I follow her in. Immediately after identifying myself Ms Evans whisks her charge away to the back of the office.

Two burly volunteers then block my path to her and tell me to leave, suggesting I get in touch with the press office to request an interview, something I have done on countless occasions over the past week.

I ask to put just a couple of questions to Ms Hurford.

“This is private property, please leave,” says one of the Tory enforcers.

So, off I go to try my luck at Ms Hurford’s other campaign office on an industrial estate at the other end of the constituency in Honiton. No luck here either.

After asking the lone Tory activist how the campaign is going, he puts himself between me and the entrance.

“This is private property, and you need to leave”, he says, assisting me out of the door a nudge.

This is a common occurrence in this Conservative campaign. Ms Hurford has only been seen at structured events. She has not been let loose among anyone other than Conservative acolytes.

Helen Hurford’s Conservative campaign hideaway (Photo: David Parsley)

Over the past three weeks I have spoken to hundreds of local residents in dozens of towns and villages across this traditionally true-blue seat. Not one of them has seen the Conservative candidate on their street, let alone knock on their door.

Many have seen the other candidates, especially Ms Hurford’s main rival, the Liberal Democrats’ Richard Foord.

Why is Ms Hurford avoiding the locals and hiding from a media attempting to put questions to her on behalf of voters?

I can think of two possible reasons. First, the Tories don’t think she’s up to facing probing questions.

Second, the campaign thinks it already has this by-election in the bag, which is not crazy talk considering the Tories are defending a huge majority of 24,239.

However, an internal Tory campaign email pleading for more volunteers to “get our voters to the polls” would suggest Ms Hurford is not entirely convinced she will retain this seat for her party.

While the media is all but banned from getting close to Ms Hurford, the same cannot be said of her Lib Deb rival in this by by-election, forced upon Boris Johnson after his Neil Parish resigned the seat after being caught watching porn on his mobile phone in Parliament.

Indeed, Mr Foord cannot get enough of talking to voters, or pushing his message to the media.

Liberal Democrat candidate Richard Foord (left) meets with former NFU deputy president Stuart Roberts and farmer Ella Weech (Photo: Supplied)

After being thrown out of the Tory campaign offices I took to the country lanes of the glorious Blackdown Hills to meet him at Ella and Ed’s Burnt House Farm.

On the way I begin to count how many signs the Lib Dems have. I stop at well over 200, largely because the narrow lanes require my full attention.

There were no burly fellas getting in the way of this candidate, but the cattle being herded along the roads almost made me miss my appointment.

I’m 10 minutes late, but Mr Foord doesn’t mind. He introduces me to Stuart Roberts, who stepped down as deputy president of the National Farmers Union in February so he could add his support the Lib Dem campaign in Tiverton and Honiton.

The agriculture vote traditionally goes to the Conservatives, but many farmers are now tempted to switch as they feel the Government has sold them down the river by cutting funding and doing post-Brexit deals with the likes of New Zealand and Australia that undermine their ability to compete.

It is a crucial block vote in these parts, and Mr Foord is doing all he can get as much of it over to his side.

“If you saw the face of the Australian agriculture minister when he was announcing this deal to his farmers you could tell he was very please indeed,” says Mr Roberts.

“I just wish we had ministers that were as passionate about helping farmers. Instead, they undermine us with trade deals that bring cheap and low standard produce into the UK. Plus, they are taking £94m of funding from farmers, which will mean many will go under.”

The latest internal polling from the Lib Dems shows Mr Foord and Ms Hurford are neck and neck, both with 45 per cent of the vote. However, there are many undecideds yet to convince and both camps are hoping they will plump for their candidate when the polls open on Thursday.

I find one of those undecided voters as a grab a bite in Toast, a delicious café in Honiton.

“I don’t know who I’m voting for,” she says. “I know Helen [Hurford] pretty well as her beauty salon is opposite my house. But I don’t know if I’m voting for her or the Lib Dems. It’s a bit difficult.”

“I’m seeing a change,” says Mr Foord. “This week we have certainly met many people who are coming over to the Liberal Democrats. That doesn’t mean I’m saying we will win. It means I believe it’s going to be very close.

“One thing I am certain of is that the Conservatives can no longer rely on this being a safe seat with a huge majority. They have taken Tiverton and Honiton for granted for far too long and the people here know that.”

As Mr Foord pops off to feed the sheep, the contrast between the Lib Dem and Tory campaigns could not be starker. I am invited to accompany Mr Foord on the final day of campaigning, along with former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron.

I have asked Ms Hurford to go out and shadow her as she attempts gain votes for weeks but, unsurprisingly, the answer is always a firm “no”.

This means of course, I will never know if the residents I spoke to are right, and whether she does actually knock on doors.

Tomorrow we, the voters of Tiverton & Honiton, choose our MP. We have a unique opportunity, in the face of the most deceitful, corrupt and authoritarian Tory government in living memory, to get a decent, honest MP who will oppose its mounting crimes against democracy.

Martin Shaw, Chair East Devon Alliance (and so says Owl)

seatonmatters.org 

‘In this election, many will find tactical voting the only way forward.’ – Gill Westcott, Green candidate

Richard Foord is not just the Liberal Democrat candidate. He is the candidate of all Labour, Green and independent voters who wish for change in this election.

UNITED we can defeat the dismally ignorant Conservative candidate who will simply be a tool of Boris Johnson and his party machine.

As Gill Westcott, the Green Party candidate, says in today’s Midweek Herald: ‘In this election, many will find tactical voting the only way forward.’

This is grown-up politics. In other words, don’t vote for me, but vote Liberal Democrat because they can WIN!

After a fierce bidding war, the dinner with Boris Johnson and the two leaders he helped get rid of — David Cameron and Theresa May — went for £120,000 to an undisclosed bidder. However, in perhaps a sign of flagging donor enthusiasm for “face time” with the party’s big names after 12 years in power, it was still some way off the £300,000 paid for dinner with Johnson after he became prime minister in July 2019.

Awkward reunion ahead for Boris Johnson and former PMs at donor dinner

Oliver Wright www.thetimes.co.uk 

Dave doesn’t much like Boris and Boris doesn’t much like Dave. Theresa really doesn’t like either of them — and isn’t very good at hiding it.

Now one lucky Tory donor will have the privilege of watching the past decade of Conservative psychodrama play out in front of them over a three-course dinner.

The “prize” was the star attraction at the Tory fundraising dinner at the V&A museum in South Kensington last night [Monday], which included an Abba tribute band and a host of cabinet ministers under strict instruction to turn on the charm for the party’s donor base.

After a fierce bidding war, the dinner with Boris Johnson and the two leaders he helped get rid of — David Cameron and Theresa May — went for £120,000 to an undisclosed bidder. However, in perhaps a sign of flagging donor enthusiasm for “face time” with the party’s big names after 12 years in power, it was still some way off the £300,000 paid for dinner with Johnson after he became prime minister in July 2019.

Those attending the event included the property tycoon Nick Candy and the former investment banker Lubov Chernukhin, whose husband Vladimir is a former chairman of the Russian state development corporation VEB.RF, which has been placed under sanctions by the UK.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the party has faced calls to return more than £2 million that Chernukhin has given it over the years. It has refused to do so.

Chernukhin has a reputation as a big bidder at fundraisers. She previously paid £160,000 for the chance to play tennis with Cameron and Johnson in 2014, and £135,000 to have dinner with May and six of her cabinet ministers in 2019.

Those attending the V&A dinner had to run a gauntlet of boos after dozens of workers from the Public and Commercial Services Union and the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell turned up to picket the event.

Inside guests dined on salmon tartare followed by beef with asparagus mash, and finished off with passion fruit meringues. Premium tables for ten went for £20,000 each and standard ones for £12,500, with guests including Priti Patel, Liz Truss and Sajid Javid as well as Johnson.

Auction prizes also included an African safari trip sold for £65,000, a shooting weekend for £37,000, and a wine tasting for £30,000.

A Conservative spokesman told The Spectator: “Fundraising is a legitimate part of the democratic process. The alternative is more taxpayer-funding of political campaigning, which would mean less money for frontline services like schools, police and hospitals — or else, being in the pocket of union barons, like the Labour Party.”

Majority of voters back rail strikes and think Boris Johnson not doing enough to prevent them

Andrew Woodcock www.independent.co.uk

A majority of voters think this week’s rail strikes are justified and two-thirds (66 per cent) think the government has not done enough to prevent them happening, according to a new poll.

The survey, by Savanta ComRes, found that 58 per cent of those questioned thought the strikes were justified, against just one-third (34 per cent) who say they are not.

The findings, based on a poll of 2,336 adults on Monday, suggest that Boris Johnson’s attempts to use the strikes as a “wedge” issue to draw a political line with Labour may not be succeeding.

However, Savanta’s political research director Chris Hopkins cautioned that opinions may shift over the course of week of disruption during which three strike days are planned.

Strikingly, the poll found that six in 10 (60 per cent) say that they are generally supportive of workers striking, while just 35 per cent were generally opposed.

The poll indicated that more voters blame government than the unions for the industrial action, which is expected to be followed by more strikes later in the year.

Some 66 per cent said that the government had not done enough to prevent them happening, 61 per cent said the same about transport secretary Grant Shapps, 57 per cent Network Rail and 49 per cent the RMT.

Younger voters aged 18-34 (72 per cent) and Labour voters (79 per cent) were more likely to see the strikes as justified compared to their older (44 per cent) and Conservative-voting (38 per cent) counterparts.