Claire Wright | |
---|---|
Devon County Councillor for Otter Valley Ottery St. Mary Rural (2013–2017) | |
In office 2 May 2013 –6 May 2021 | |
Preceded by | Roger Giles |
Succeeded by | Jess Bailey |
Personal details | |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Independent |
Residence | Ottery St Mary |
Website | claire-wright |
Claire Wright [1] is a British politician. She was a Devon county councillor from 2013 to 2021 and stood as an independent for East Devon in the 2015,2017,and 2019 United Kingdom general elections,coming second each time. [2]
Wright started working in the National Health Service in a public relations role in 2001,served on the Ottery St Mary Town Council and was elected to Devon County Council in 2013 with 74 percent of the vote. [3] [4] She stood as a parliamentary candidate in the 2015,2017,and 2019 elections,receiving progressively larger shares of the vote each time. [5] Wright's main policy interests are the NHS,social care and preserving the environment, [3] [6] with her manifesto based on a community survey. [7]
The East Devon constituency has only ever been held by the Conservative Party and was considered a safe seat. With growing support in the 2017 general election for Wright,polling indicated that the seat had become marginal. [3] [8] Queen guitarist Brian May endorsed Wright in 2017, [7] while actor Hugh Grant and reporter Martin Bell endorsed Wright at the 2019 election. [5] [9] However,in the December 2019 election,Wright lost to the Conservative Simon Jupp by nearly 7,000 votes. [10] Asked by local radio if she would run again,Wright said she was unsure. [11] In 2021,she announced she would not stand in the 2021 County Council elections. [12]
In Diary of an MP's Wife (2020),the memoirs of Sasha Swire,Wright is frequently referred to by the nickname "Claire Wrong". [13]
After the resignation of Neil Parish,MP for Tiverton and Honiton,in May 2022,there were some suggestions that Wright would stand in the subsequent by-election. However,she clarified on a statement on Twitter that she would not put her name forward,instead endorsing the Liberal Democrats. [14] [15] Although Tiverton and Honiton had also been a safe seat for the Tories before,Liberal Democrat candidate Richard Foord overturned Parish's 2019 majority of more than 24,000 votes and was elected. [16]
For the 2024 general election in the newly created constituencies of Exmouth and Exeter East and Honiton and Sidmouth,Wright has endorsed the campaigns of the prospective Liberal Democrat candidates,and declined to stand in either constituency. [17] [18]
Wright lives in Ottery St Mary in East Devon. [3]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Simon Jupp | 32,577 | 50.8 | 2.3 | |
Independent | Claire Wright | 25,869 | 40.4 | 5.1 | |
Labour | Dan Wilson | 2,870 | 4.5 | 6.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Eleanor Rylance | 1,771 | 2.8 | 0.3 | |
Green | Henry Gent | 711 | 1.1 | New | |
Independent | Peter Faithfull | 275 | 0.4 | 0.2 | |
Majority | 6,708 | 10.4 | 2.9 | ||
Turnout | 64,073 | 73.8 | 0.5 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Hugo Swire | 29,306 | 48.5 | 2.1 | |
Independent | Claire Wright | 21,270 | 35.2 | 11.2 | |
Labour | Jan Ross | 6,857 | 11.4 | 1.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Alison Eden | 1,468 | 2.4 | 4.4 | |
UKIP | Brigitte Graham | 1,203 | 2.0 | 10.6 | |
Independent | Peter Faithfull | 150 | 0.2 | New | |
Independent | Michael Davies | 128 | 0.2 | New | |
Majority | 8,036 | 13.3 | −9.1 | ||
Turnout | 60,382 | 73.3 | −0.4 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Hugo Swire | 25,401 | 46.4 | −1.9 | |
Independent | Claire Wright | 13,140 | 24.0 | New | |
UKIP | Andrew Chapman | 6,870 | 12.5 | +4.4 | |
Labour | Steve Race [23] | 5,591 | 10.2 | −0.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | Stuart Mole | 3,715 | 6.8 | −24.4 | |
Majority | 12,261 | 22.4 | +5.2 | ||
Turnout | 54,717 | 73.7 | +1.1 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +5.4 |
East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Honiton, although Exmouth is the largest town. The district also contains the towns of Axminster, Budleigh Salterton, Cranbrook, Ottery St Mary, Seaton and Sidmouth, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.
Neil Quentin Gordon Parish is a British farmer and former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tiverton and Honiton from 2010 until his resignation in 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he was previously a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England from 1999 to 2009. Parish chaired the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee from 2015 until his resignation from the House of Commons.
East Devon was a UK parliamentary constituency, represented most recently in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Simon Jupp of the Conservative Party.
Tiverton and Honiton was a constituency in Devon, England. From its creation in 1997 until a 2022 by-election, the seat was represented by members of the Conservative Party. It was then held by Richard Foord of the Liberal Democrats until abolition.
Honiton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Honiton in east Devon, formerly represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sent members intermittently from 1300, consistently from 1640. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) until it was abolished in 1868. It was recreated in 1885 as a single-member constituency.
Tiverton was a constituency located in Tiverton in east Devon, formerly represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Enfranchised as a parliamentary borough in 1615 and first represented in 1621, it elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the first past the post system of election until 1885. The name was then transferred to a county constituency electing one MP.
South Devon, formerly known as the Southern Division of Devon, is a parliamentary constituency in the county of Devon in England. From 1832 to 1885 it returned two Knights of the Shire to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.
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On 1 December 2016, a by-election was held in the UK parliamentary constituency of Richmond Park. It was triggered by the resignation of the Conservative Member of Parliament Zac Goldsmith on 25 October 2016 over the Government's proposal for a third runway at the nearby Heathrow Airport. It was won by Sarah Olney of the Liberal Democrats, after a campaign focused on opposition to Brexit.
The 2019 East Devon District Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members of East Devon District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. The whole council was elected on new ward boundaries that increased the number of seats from 59 to 60.
Various newspapers, organisations and individuals endorsed parties or individual candidates for the 2019 United Kingdom general election.
Simon James Jupp is a British Conservative Party politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for East Devon from the 2019 general election until the constituency was abolished in 2024.
A by-election was held in the United Kingdom Parliament constituency of Chesham and Amersham on 17 June 2021, following the death of the sitting member, Dame Cheryl Gillan, on 4 April 2021. Gillan had served as MP for the constituency since 1992. The by-election was the third to the 58th Parliament, which was elected in 2019.
A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of North Shropshire was held on 16 December 2021. It was triggered by the resignation of the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Owen Paterson on 5 November 2021. The by-election was won by Helen Morgan, with a 34% swing from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats.
A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Wakefield was held on 23 June 2022. It was triggered by the resignation, on 3 May 2022, of Member of Parliament (MP) Imran Ahmad Khan, who was elected as a Conservative at the 2019 general election and resigned following a criminal conviction for child sexual assault. Ahmad Khan was subsequently jailed for 18 months.
A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Tiverton and Honiton was held on 23 June 2022. The vacancy was caused by the resignation on 4 May 2022 of the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Neil Parish of the Conservative Party, following his admission to accusations that he viewed pornography on his mobile phone in the House of Commons chamber.
Richard John Foord is a British Liberal Democrat politician and former British Army officer who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Honiton and Sidmouth since 2024, and previously for its predecessor constituency Tiverton and Honiton in Devon from 2022 until the constituency was abolished in 2024. He won the seat in a by-election held on 23 June 2022, following the resignation due to scandal of the previous Conservative MP Neil Parish.
Honiton and Sidmouth is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election. The current MP is Richard Foord.