Honiton: All still to play for in the upcoming By-election

Nub News has been out and about chatting to local voters and it seems that there is no obvious leader in the race for people's votes.

More than a dozen people were approached on the high street yesterday afternoon and roughly half politely said they were not interested in politics and were not going to be voting. Those that were interested in the By-election tended to be older, but they all had different opinions on who they would like to see win the seat.

Jane Bishop (68) works part-time in Apothespa on Honiton high street. A lifelong Conservative voter, she is going to vote for the Liberal Democrats on June 23. "Richard Foord came round to my house campaigning, and I had a good talk to him.

"I don't like Boris'. He lied and that has tipped it for me. He just didn't acknowledge the fact that he did wrong during the lockdowns. But I've always voted Conservative."

A customer in Apothespa, Phil Weller, declared he would be voting tactically to get rid of Boris Johnson.

Phil (71), who has lived in the area for 35 years, is retired and he now runs Honiton Shedders.

"I had no time for Neil Parish. He doesn't live in the constituency, and he lied to Parliament.

"Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the candidates, but I would like to meet Richard [Foord, the Liberal Democrat candidate]. I'm very pleased they're running an active campaign.

"We will get Boris out, one way or another."

The Liberal Democrats are perceived to be running the most high-profile campaign. This morning Jane received a call from the Lib Dem campaign team asking her how she would be voting, and, on learning that she was going to be on holiday on voting day, explained to her how she could set up a postal vote.

Nigel Swinbourne (54) owns Bits and Bobs further down the high street. Although he lives outside the constituency, he was happy to talk: "If I see one more luminous orange Lib Dem banner go past my shop window, I'm going to scream!"

In clothes shop Coastal Boutique, Jade Boots (20) was just finishing her shift for the day. She lives in Honiton with her boyfriend.

Jade said that the Covid pandemic had made her more interested in politics, and for her the key issue was access to healthcare. "Access to doctors and GPs is so patchy here. In Honiton it is good, but when I lived in Ottery, I was waiting 6 weeks to see a GP. It needs to be fairer. My nan lives in Ottery and she really struggles with the health service there."

"I saw Helen Hurford and Liz Pole [the Conservative and Labour candidates respectively]. I am still working out how to vote. There are some parties that would never get my support, but I like the fact Helen is a woman."

A queue was forming outside Honiton Dairy ice-cream shop, with four customers sitting outside enjoying the sun. Owner Robert Harris (69), whose family have owned shop since 1935, is retiring this year and is selling up.

Ed Davey (the leader of the Liberal Democrat Party) and Richard Foord recently visited the shop and met with Robert.

Robert said that he thought the By-election was unnecessary because Neil Parish was not 'any worse' than any of the other MPs. "Ed Davey came to my shop, but he didn't have a lot to say. He was more interested in eating his ice-cream than he was talking about the election.

"I will vote Conservative or Liberal Democrat. The Conservatives will get in whatever happens. They'll never shake this seat."

"There are practical problems to solve, rather than looking at who is misbehaving. People aren't on the high street like they used to be, they're not coming into towns. I sell half of what I did ten years ago."

Sitting on a bench rocking her baby in a pram, new mum Kia Roe was keen find time to read about the candidates so she could decide who to vote for. "I had a leaflet though the door this morning, but I put it to the side, and I don't know who it was for.

"I know I should vote - but I don't have an opinion for or against any of them at the moment, but I will do a little bit of research."

Eight candidates are standing for election in next week's by-election:

Jordan Donoghue-Morgan – Heritage Party

Andy Foan – Reform UK

Richard Foord – Liberal Democrats

Helen Hurford – Conservative

Liz Pole – Labour

Frankie Rufolo – The For Britain Movement

Ben Walker – UK Independence Party

Gill Westcott – Green Party

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