Somerton and Frome by-election: Sarah Dyke promises to be 'active' MP

Sarah Dyke said she will be an "active, hard-working champion" for Somerton and Frome after the Liberal Democrats overturned a 19,000 Conservative majority to win the seat.

Ms Dyke's 21,187 votes comfortably beat the Tory's Faye Purbrick with 10,179.

The by-election came after the resignation of former Tory MP David Warburton.

"People are angry, they're frustrated and they wanted change and they've seen me as being that change," said Ms Dyke.

The Lib Dem victory represented a 29% swing away from the Conservative party and means they retake the seat they held between 1997 and 2015.

Ms Dyke said Mr Warburton had been an "absent" MP and that the people of Somerton and Frome have been left without a voice for too long.

Mr Warburton was suspended by the Conservative party in April 2022 when claims of sexual misconduct were made against him.

He resigned as an MP last month. He admitted drug-taking and an investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations was withdrawn earlier in the week.

"I think they will have a hard working MP now for Somerton and Frome because they haven't had that for far too long," Ms Dyke added.

"For me it's about getting out there and really representing people.

"We haven't had an MP in the constituency for far too long, let alone a voice in Parliament so what I want to do is understand more of the issues facing people, catch up on all that case work that just simply hasn't been happening and make people's lives better, because they deserve better in Somerton and Frome.

"It's been a long time coming and it should have been happening over the last year or so," added Ms Dyke.

In her victory speech Ms Dyke thanked "lifelong Conservative voters" who had voted Lib Dem for the first time, as well as Labour and Green supporters who had "lent" their votes.

"We've got a brilliant Liberal Democrat team here who have been working extremely hard over the last three or four weeks but I've been out as a parliamentary candidate talking to people on the doorsteps for the last year or so," said Ms Dyke.

"Thank you for putting your trust in me to deliver for you. I will not let you down. I am truly honoured by the faith of the people of Somerton and Frome.

"It is humbling to be elected to represent the place my family have lived in for generations and farmed for over 200 years.

"People have said enough is enough. Instead of an absent Conservative MP letting you down, you have an active Lib Dem MP lifting you up."

As soon as the result was declared, defeated Conservative candidate Faye Purbrick left via a side entrance and got into a waiting car.

Asked about the huge change in vote as she left, she replied: "That would be something you would have to ask the voters.

"Thank you to everybody who voted for me - I really appreciate their support and I will be back."

David Fothergill, leader of the Conservative group on Somerset Council, who attended the vote at the Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet, and said national and local issues had played a part in the defeat.

"Clearly there's a national picture and we recognise what's happening in the polls but equally there's the local stuff as well and we've had an MP here who stood down 15 months ago with some really serious accusations against him," he said.

"Some of which he has admitted to since and I think people are pretty grumpy about that.

"The circumstances here are very different because we had that local element of an MP really that went rogue," added Mr Fothergill.

Green candidate Martin Dimery, who came in third, said his party's performance was affected by the Lib Dems targeting Green voters.

"I was unhappy with the way our vote was targeted, particularly by the Lib Dems because looking at the type of majority they have they didn't need to play some of the tricks they did on us. But I think 95% of people make their mind up the moment the election is called and we are just fighting over that last 5% to see if we can sway them our way.

"Credit to the Lib Dems because they fought a very strong campaign," he added.

Labour's Neil Guild said he felt he had run a positive campaign and was happy with the messages the party had got out to people despite finishing in fifth with just 2.6% of the vote share.

"We've spoken to so many members of the public and there's a real appetite for what Labour is offering. The Lib Dems have held this seat in the past so they had that historic legacy and that's carried them through I don't think that's a reflection on us.

"There was a really positive result on the doorstep but we need more work to be done," he added.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the result showed his party was once again winning votes in its former heartland.

"The people of Somerton and Frome have spoken for the rest of the country who are fed up with Rishi Sunak's out-of-touch Conservative government," he added.

Mr Davey visited Frome on Friday morning to congratulate Ms Dyke, telling a crowd of party supporters that he is "really starting to like by-elections".

"What we've achieved here is nothing short of spectacular in our liberal heartland of the south-west," he said.

The Lib Dem leader said people are angry with the current situation in the UK but they see that his party is "listening to them" and the public had sent a "powerful" message to the Conservatives.

"They're fed up of these Conservative clowns, and their political circus is not helping people," he said.

Mr Davey added: "The Conservatives keep taking people in the West Country for granted with their appalling record on the health service, on the economy.

"We won't be complacent at all. But there are 15 seats in the West Country with majorities smaller than Somerton and Frome was.

"We've got every reason to believe that people across the West Country … are turning to the Liberal Democrats as the party best placed in this part of our country to defeat the Conservatives."

However, Ms Dyke will soon face a fresh challenge, as Somerton and Frome is one of a number of seats being abolished at the next general election due to boundary changes.

It is being split in two to form the new constituencies of Glastonbury and Somerton and Frome and East Somerset.