The reaction of Charlie Murray, who manages a coffee shop in the Somerset town of Frome, to an imminent byelection will not encourage the teams of activists about to descend on the area. “Oh pants!” she said when the Guardian broke the news. “I’m fed up with all these byelections. They’re a waste of time. Politicians need to get on and run the country, not keep banging on our doors bothering us.” “Nobody wants a byelection,” said Ian Jonathan Berkeley-Hurst, a lawyer, who was having his hair cut in a barber shop. “It all feels irrelevant given that there is going to be a general election next year anyway. I think most people are bored with listening to the Tories and Labour squabbling, especially when so many are struggling and businesses are going bust all over the place.”
“It’s the byelection nobody really wants,” said Nick White, a retired sales agent who usually votes Conservative but has not made his mind up this time. “The Lib Dems will fancy their chances and I think a lot of Tory voters will stay at home.” Whether the largely rural Somerton and Frome constituency likes it or not, a byelection will take place after the resignation of David Warburton, who won a hefty 19,000 majority in 2019 but was suspended from the Conservative party in April 2022 after accusations of harassment and drugs use. This week, he finally stepped down after a long investigation. The byelection, to be held on 20 July, will be another stern test for the Tories in the English West Country, who were stung exactly a year ago by the historic loss of nearby Tiverton and Honiton, where the Lib Dems overturned a 24,000 majority.
It will give Labour and the Green party a chance to make gains and refine battle plans as they prepare for the general election – by which time this sprawling constituency will almost certainly be split into two – and may also provide an opportunity for residents to think about tactical voting. Mike Grenville, a Frome funeral and wedding celebrant and poet, said he would much prefer to vote for the Greens. “But Somerton and Frome used to be a Lib Dem seat [David Heath was the MP from 1997 to 2015] and they are best placed to retake the seat to replace the disgraced Tory. For now, the imperative is to vote in almost anything but Tory.” Angie Salfield, an artist, agreed: “I’ll vote for whoever can beat the Tories.” Before Warburton officially announced his resignation, the Tories had been campaigning with Greg Hands, the party chair, canvassing at the weekend. An increase in the number of police officers in Avon and Somerset was the message they tried to hammer home. The Lib Dems, who took Somerset council at last year’s local elections, have also been working the doors hard. “I’ve been knocking on doors since I was selected last year – thousands of doors,” said their candidate, Sarah Dyke, a county councillor. “There is toxicity around the outgoing MP and the Conservative party. People want change.”
Martin Dimery, the Green candidate, said he hoped tactical voting would not wreck his chances. “If you can’t vote for the party you really want in a byelection when it doesn’t actually change the complexion of government, then when can you?” he said. Sean Dromgoole, who stood for Labour at the last general election, said he believed a lot of “county Tories” would not vote. “They’ll sit on their hands; they’re genuinely ashamed of this Conservative government,” he said, adding Labour may be able to appeal to the many liberal people who moved to Somerset during Covid. At the social initiative shop Share Frome, , customers and staff welcomed the byelection. “Our MP has been absent for such a long time,” said one staff member, Heidi Joyce. “We haven’t been represented at all. Frome can handle a byelection now and a general election next year.”
Andrew Lee, editor of the Leveller newspaper, said the byelection was important as the constituency struggled with issues such as broadband speed, pollution on the Somerset Levels and affordable housing. “Whoever wins the byelection is likely to have a very full inbox to deal with. And of course, they’ll only be an MP for a maximum of 16 months before facing the electorate again. It’ll be a tough gig.”