Could the Brexit Party break through in the South West? – General Election Special #1

The 2019 General election is in full swing and UNN’s Oliver Down will be bringing you an exclusive 7-part election special.

Part 1 will focus on the South West and some of the close battlegrounds in that lovely part of the world. The South West of England is a democratically diverse area ranging from Plymouth where nearly 60% voted to leave and Cheltenham where only 44% voted for Brexit. Many are citing these huge democratic chasms for a peculiar strategic start to the election. A one size fits all approach is extremely unlikely to be successful. 

One seat of particular interest is the seat of St Ives, which interestingly also has voters on the Isles of Sicily shipped across on election night, which has a current Tory majority of only 312. The Brexit party has stood aside to allow the Conservative candidate Derek Thomas a free run at the seat and given the fact that the seat voted to leave the European Union and the Labour party, Liberal Democrats and Green’s are all running candidates Mr Thomas will likely be feeling extremely confident. 

The Brexit party’s Anne Widdecombe will stand in Plymouth and Devonport which is a Labour marginal with a majority of 6,807. Anne, who has been an esteemed guest with David Clews only a matter of weeks ago, has told LBC exclusively this morning that she was contacted by number 10 and offered “a role in negotiations” if she was too stand down and has promised to swear an oath on the bible if it was necessary. She has flat batted this request away in typical Anne style. Her seat is likely to be towards the top of the Brexit party target seats. 

However, in contrast to this the seat of Cheltenham which overwhelmingly voted remain is a ripe seat for the Liberal Democrats. The Green party are not running, and nor are the Brexit party. This has been a swing seat between the Conservative and the Liberal Democrats in recent times and is likely to be extremely close. Seats in cities such as Bristol are extremely likely to remain Labour. However, the decision of Nigel Farage to stand down candidates such a Dawn Westcott in North Devon is likely to boost Conservative performance in the region considerably.

Oliver Down

Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!

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