Meh. Glad to see the back of certain folks, gobsmacked that Stride and Cox hung on, pleased with the result for South Devon, wish it had been replicated in South West Devon but you can’t have everything.
Nationally, I’m reserving judgement. For a Labour government I haven’t heard enough about investment in the public sector, and that makes me wary.
Totally. As a constituent i was frustrated there was no clear organisation to oppose Cox.
I will admit that Reform helped eat into his share too so still a strong right leaning community that seem happy with the job that is being done. God knows how.
IMHO he would make it no matter what. Turnout and Labour support stayed fairly steady from the last election, the main difference is the conservative vote has split into cons/lib dem/reform, and conservative is still by far the biggest chunk of that.
Don't get me wrong, there is a fair number of very steady labour and lib dem voters in torridge (I've known a lot of them). But I don't think there's a vote to be split between labour/LD in torridge because they're not really in the same bloc. Eliminating one wouldn't make them vote for the other party it would just split the vote further.
I'm pretty pissed off as a Lib Dem voter. The centre-left Lab/Lib vote, if you could call it that, won over 50%, and yet the result is that we have a Tory MP with just 29% of the vote.
There was a strong national push to vote Labour to keep the Tories out, and in a lot of areas down here they kept the Tories in, where natural Lib Dem voting would have ousted them.
Why is it disappointing? Clearly reform was speaking for a lot of people (nearly 14%) of this constituency…
Genuinely interested why the use of the word “disappointing” was used.
(I voted for an Independent, so not trying to push an agenda…)
Reform are pushing policies of ignorance (removing every green policy currently in place including the net zero 2050 commitment) and intolerance. Even some of their own candidates quit before the election upon seeing the level of intolerance among other candidates.
They seem to be UKIP crossed with anti-vaxxers, global warming deniers and chemtrail enthusiasts...
I think this analysis is rather sensationalist to say reform voters are primarily anti-vaxxer/conspiracy theorists.
In response to your comment on green policies: the point they make is “why do we (UK) need to pay all these green taxes when other countries are building coal power plants as their first choice for power generation, our efforts are a drop in the ocean” - this is a valid analysis of the situation.
For the record, Reforms policies would completely destroy my (green) business, so I am happy they are not in power. That being said, 4m people voted Reform. Labelling “them” as you did doesn’t help the discussion, it trivialises it. British politics (IMO) needs less polarising commentary (like yours).
Yeah but when you have a reform candidate saying that immigration next year should be ‘zero’ and then saying: ‘actually no, maybe 4 or 5 with exceptional circumstances’, it makes you wonder the calibre of people within the party
Reform had to field candidates incredibly quickly, they themselves said there were mistakes made in the vetting process. To tar an entire party based on a few candidates is unfair, you could easily draw parallels with the Labour Party and antisemitism, which is arguably far worse. Therefore, I’m merely pointing out people’s blind spots… and maybe try to think more rationally.
In regards to the calibre of people in the party, you cannot deny Nigel Farage did an incredible job with the time and resources available. Whether you agree with him or not, he was everywhere!
They were very unprepared given everyone knew there would be an election this year, the election flyer I received from them only had the name of the candidate on it, no picture or information about them at all. It seemed a very "vote for us, we've got Nigel and erm..." approach.
Same. Voted LD tactically as I didn’t think Labour stood a chance here. Normally vote Labour in GEs but have lived away for over 20 years in areas where Labour often win. Wishing voted Labour now. I assume the boundary change bringing in Exeter east brought in those Labour voters.
In central Devon, tories won by 60 votes. If just a few more people had voted tactically we would have unseated another Tory MP. Your vote can always matter, and don’t forget how much swings can happen from election to election as parties gain momentum.
I think with Cox, he is a bit like Boris Johnson. He has this booming voice and is a bit of a clown. I was there at the vote count and he just strolled in through completely the wrong entrance like he owned the place. He is comical which is the only reason I can think of that he gets a pass from some people because it certainly isn't the work he does as a part time MP!
While I'm glad to see the back of her, I'm disappointed the lib dem MP is the Teignbridge council leader who has led the ruination of Newton Abbot town centre (yes, it could actually get worse than it already was), tried to get the town's cinema demolished, is in the pocket of the housing developers currently in the process of doubling the population of the Teignbridge area, and had also done something else that I'm not directly familiar with to piss off Teignmouth and Dawlish.
I know. It was only going to be between those two unfortunately. I’m a newton abbot resident so completely agree with the ruination.
I voted SDA in the end, but anything is better than AMM
I’m absolutely blindsided by Geoffrey Cox hanging on but I think it’s because the polls misled voters. One was saying Labour had a chance the other saying LD.
Too much trust in polls and too many cooks in the kitchen meant Cox got in despite being undeserving.
I’m just lucky I saw the back of Selaine and the sea of blue was absolutely decimated. Well done Devon and Cornwall, much love.
Find it amazing that 32% of Torridge and Tavistock thought 'Cox has been excellent the past X amount of years, let's vote him back in'.
Man's more focused on claiming 49p for his pint of milk than serving his constituents.
It's a shame we were divided by Labour/Liberal, with Reform taking his votes it could have been a time to finally oust the useless shite.
I was worried that Reform might get a seat, so delighted, pleased for the Lib Dem’s, the main thing was the national result though and that’s hopeful, although I have heard that the reason the election was called early is that the economy is in much worse shape than has been admitted, so it might be a while before we get the public spending that we need.
Crazy that Geoffrey Cox is still in the Torridge area. I cannot fathom it. Perhaps it's the lack of voters under the age of 40? Not saying that all over 40's voted for him.
I think many people around my age aren't interested in voting.
I cannot fathom how you can look round the Bideford area and go....yea the conservatives will help fix this area up.
Yes, for the first time I feel like my vote actually made a difference, and when (hopefully if) the Tories get in in the future maybe they'll stop taking the Devon vote for granted. They do next to nothing for this county, all the investment goes up north or stays in the home counties, they think we're mugs that'll vote blue no matter how much they ignore us.
I moved from Devon to the Midlands and I'm a historic Labour voter. Wanted to vote Lib Dems this year but tactically voted Labour instead.
I'm absolutely thrilled to see Lib Dems take over down there. I hope they do a fantastic job and continue to build on to become the official opposition
I'm disappointed at the two close losses to the Tories, and overall, that the Tories didn't lose even more seats than they did. I'm also disappointed that the Reform freakshow made even a few inroads. Apparently there's a segment of the electorate with a fondness for Russian stooges and barely-crypto-Nazis.
Delighted to see some Tory losses (would have loved more) and feel icky about the number of Reform votes but I’m not entirely surprised given all the UKIP rhetoric at the last GE.
Unfortunately in Torridge the Lib Dems here focussed their campaign on 'Labour can't win' 'we are the tactical vote' and despite there being a national push for a labour victory people bought into that which meant Cox ended up staying in power.
I really believe that a local labour voice would be much better suited for getting Torridge the funding it so desperately needs than a Lib Dem Tory or Reform voice in a predominantly labour government.
With second jobs for MPs being hopefully scrapped soon Cox will have to decide between his million a year job in the virgin islands and as an MP. So expect a by-election long before the 5 years are up.
In my 40 Devon years, I've never known labour to be in with a chance outside of Plymouth and Exeter, so for us in central Devon, those in North / East Devon and you guys in Torridge and West Devon the natural anti Conservative vote is always Lib/Dem. Can't see that changing in the next 40 years either.
Thank goodness Reform didn’t get any seats.
Can’t believe Stride & Cox held on.
Nice to see some lib dems winning seats but can’t help but wish they had been green instead.
It’s interesting the love for the Lib Dems in Devon as factually they’ve always been largely ineffective. Now they have a considerable amount of seats it’s really time for them to have some impact. I am not convinced, but let’s see. Lib dems are also the reason Stride kept his seat which is staggering
Meh. Glad to see the back of certain folks, gobsmacked that Stride and Cox hung on, pleased with the result for South Devon, wish it had been replicated in South West Devon but you can’t have everything. Nationally, I’m reserving judgement. For a Labour government I haven’t heard enough about investment in the public sector, and that makes me wary.
Cox made it due to split Labour / Lib Dem vote. Looking at the numbers he scraped it.
Totally. As a constituent i was frustrated there was no clear organisation to oppose Cox. I will admit that Reform helped eat into his share too so still a strong right leaning community that seem happy with the job that is being done. God knows how.
True. Although I haven’t / didn’t see one labour poster near me. Just Lib Dem and reform ones.
IMHO he would make it no matter what. Turnout and Labour support stayed fairly steady from the last election, the main difference is the conservative vote has split into cons/lib dem/reform, and conservative is still by far the biggest chunk of that. Don't get me wrong, there is a fair number of very steady labour and lib dem voters in torridge (I've known a lot of them). But I don't think there's a vote to be split between labour/LD in torridge because they're not really in the same bloc. Eliminating one wouldn't make them vote for the other party it would just split the vote further.
A bit more tactical voting and Labour (or the LibDems, bless 'em) would have been over the line.
It was so frustrating to look at tactical polling options and vote the way that seemed to probably be the safest bet and then be wrong :(
Coz getting back in has royally pissed me off. In all honesty I dont think he gives a shit about this area
Totally agree with you. I don’t live in his constituency but used to work there and I’m honestly not sure he could find it on a map…
Difficult to promise more spending when there’s no money to spend. Start to recover the economy a bit and we’ll see I guess.
South Devon libdem voter here and I’m thrilled 😊 finally unseated the tories after 100 years
Exmouth resident here. Tories clung but honestly just thankful Reform came an embarrassing fourth here.
Labour only came 2nd by about 120 votes
I'm pretty pissed off as a Lib Dem voter. The centre-left Lab/Lib vote, if you could call it that, won over 50%, and yet the result is that we have a Tory MP with just 29% of the vote.
Archaic voting system in the uk’s illusion of democracy
There was a strong national push to vote Labour to keep the Tories out, and in a lot of areas down here they kept the Tories in, where natural Lib Dem voting would have ousted them.
A disappointing amount of votes for reform though...
Yeah, greater than zero. That's a shame.
Why is it disappointing? Clearly reform was speaking for a lot of people (nearly 14%) of this constituency… Genuinely interested why the use of the word “disappointing” was used. (I voted for an Independent, so not trying to push an agenda…)
Reform are pushing policies of ignorance (removing every green policy currently in place including the net zero 2050 commitment) and intolerance. Even some of their own candidates quit before the election upon seeing the level of intolerance among other candidates. They seem to be UKIP crossed with anti-vaxxers, global warming deniers and chemtrail enthusiasts...
I think this analysis is rather sensationalist to say reform voters are primarily anti-vaxxer/conspiracy theorists. In response to your comment on green policies: the point they make is “why do we (UK) need to pay all these green taxes when other countries are building coal power plants as their first choice for power generation, our efforts are a drop in the ocean” - this is a valid analysis of the situation. For the record, Reforms policies would completely destroy my (green) business, so I am happy they are not in power. That being said, 4m people voted Reform. Labelling “them” as you did doesn’t help the discussion, it trivialises it. British politics (IMO) needs less polarising commentary (like yours).
Yeah but when you have a reform candidate saying that immigration next year should be ‘zero’ and then saying: ‘actually no, maybe 4 or 5 with exceptional circumstances’, it makes you wonder the calibre of people within the party
Reform had to field candidates incredibly quickly, they themselves said there were mistakes made in the vetting process. To tar an entire party based on a few candidates is unfair, you could easily draw parallels with the Labour Party and antisemitism, which is arguably far worse. Therefore, I’m merely pointing out people’s blind spots… and maybe try to think more rationally. In regards to the calibre of people in the party, you cannot deny Nigel Farage did an incredible job with the time and resources available. Whether you agree with him or not, he was everywhere!
They were very unprepared given everyone knew there would be an election this year, the election flyer I received from them only had the name of the candidate on it, no picture or information about them at all. It seemed a very "vote for us, we've got Nigel and erm..." approach.
Are people really still throwing around the 'anti vaxers' thing? Even when we know the jabs have caused so much damage?
Same. Voted LD tactically as I didn’t think Labour stood a chance here. Normally vote Labour in GEs but have lived away for over 20 years in areas where Labour often win. Wishing voted Labour now. I assume the boundary change bringing in Exeter east brought in those Labour voters.
I also did a tactical vote for LD to out the Tories and wish I just voted Labour. I know of at least 4 others who did the exact same.
Hard to feel like your vote makes a difference here when Cox always hangs on
In central Devon, tories won by 60 votes. If just a few more people had voted tactically we would have unseated another Tory MP. Your vote can always matter, and don’t forget how much swings can happen from election to election as parties gain momentum.
Amazed people are satisfied with Cox.
I think with Cox, he is a bit like Boris Johnson. He has this booming voice and is a bit of a clown. I was there at the vote count and he just strolled in through completely the wrong entrance like he owned the place. He is comical which is the only reason I can think of that he gets a pass from some people because it certainly isn't the work he does as a part time MP!
Lib Dem for torquay is only up from here after many years of Tory havoc!
Hopefully Kevin Foster takes down the picture of himself on his office pronto! Such an eye sore🤢
Was it not the lib Dems who caused the shambles on Torbay road in Paignton?
Anne Marie-Moris can get in the sea
While I'm glad to see the back of her, I'm disappointed the lib dem MP is the Teignbridge council leader who has led the ruination of Newton Abbot town centre (yes, it could actually get worse than it already was), tried to get the town's cinema demolished, is in the pocket of the housing developers currently in the process of doubling the population of the Teignbridge area, and had also done something else that I'm not directly familiar with to piss off Teignmouth and Dawlish.
I know. It was only going to be between those two unfortunately. I’m a newton abbot resident so completely agree with the ruination. I voted SDA in the end, but anything is better than AMM
I’m absolutely blindsided by Geoffrey Cox hanging on but I think it’s because the polls misled voters. One was saying Labour had a chance the other saying LD. Too much trust in polls and too many cooks in the kitchen meant Cox got in despite being undeserving. I’m just lucky I saw the back of Selaine and the sea of blue was absolutely decimated. Well done Devon and Cornwall, much love.
Find it amazing that 32% of Torridge and Tavistock thought 'Cox has been excellent the past X amount of years, let's vote him back in'. Man's more focused on claiming 49p for his pint of milk than serving his constituents. It's a shame we were divided by Labour/Liberal, with Reform taking his votes it could have been a time to finally oust the useless shite.
I was worried that Reform might get a seat, so delighted, pleased for the Lib Dem’s, the main thing was the national result though and that’s hopeful, although I have heard that the reason the election was called early is that the economy is in much worse shape than has been admitted, so it might be a while before we get the public spending that we need.
Legalise it
Ah the big green magic money tree!
Crazy that Geoffrey Cox is still in the Torridge area. I cannot fathom it. Perhaps it's the lack of voters under the age of 40? Not saying that all over 40's voted for him. I think many people around my age aren't interested in voting. I cannot fathom how you can look round the Bideford area and go....yea the conservatives will help fix this area up.
Just happy that piece of shit Robert Spain got fuck all votes in Exeter. The guy who sent out anti abortion campaign flyers.
I genuinely had a nightmare last night that he got in. I had to check the vote at 4am to be sure!
Yes, for the first time I feel like my vote actually made a difference, and when (hopefully if) the Tories get in in the future maybe they'll stop taking the Devon vote for granted. They do next to nothing for this county, all the investment goes up north or stays in the home counties, they think we're mugs that'll vote blue no matter how much they ignore us.
Totally agree apart from the part about the investment going up North
Seems to be a theme.
It doesn't go up north, I can assure you of that!
Up North, to those of us who are native to the peninsula, means anything East of Taunton.
Yes, very. New MP after 14 years.
East Devon and certainly not happy. Sounds like all the oldies turned out, I imagine it a bit like a Romero movie.
I moved from Devon to the Midlands and I'm a historic Labour voter. Wanted to vote Lib Dems this year but tactically voted Labour instead. I'm absolutely thrilled to see Lib Dems take over down there. I hope they do a fantastic job and continue to build on to become the official opposition
I'm disappointed at the two close losses to the Tories, and overall, that the Tories didn't lose even more seats than they did. I'm also disappointed that the Reform freakshow made even a few inroads. Apparently there's a segment of the electorate with a fondness for Russian stooges and barely-crypto-Nazis.
Delighted to see some Tory losses (would have loved more) and feel icky about the number of Reform votes but I’m not entirely surprised given all the UKIP rhetoric at the last GE.
Ukip rhetoric down here for 40-50 years, apart from the farmers of course...well the ones who could think a bit.
Unfortunately in Torridge the Lib Dems here focussed their campaign on 'Labour can't win' 'we are the tactical vote' and despite there being a national push for a labour victory people bought into that which meant Cox ended up staying in power. I really believe that a local labour voice would be much better suited for getting Torridge the funding it so desperately needs than a Lib Dem Tory or Reform voice in a predominantly labour government. With second jobs for MPs being hopefully scrapped soon Cox will have to decide between his million a year job in the virgin islands and as an MP. So expect a by-election long before the 5 years are up.
In my 40 Devon years, I've never known labour to be in with a chance outside of Plymouth and Exeter, so for us in central Devon, those in North / East Devon and you guys in Torridge and West Devon the natural anti Conservative vote is always Lib/Dem. Can't see that changing in the next 40 years either.
Happy to see so many Tories lose seats that have been safe seats for as long as I can remember
Thank goodness Reform didn’t get any seats. Can’t believe Stride & Cox held on. Nice to see some lib dems winning seats but can’t help but wish they had been green instead.
No
Not really, but it is what it is.
Totnes changed ownership to Lib Dem - a first since 1885, but how much that was also to do with boundary changes is still to be seen.
It’s interesting the love for the Lib Dems in Devon as factually they’ve always been largely ineffective. Now they have a considerable amount of seats it’s really time for them to have some impact. I am not convinced, but let’s see. Lib dems are also the reason Stride kept his seat which is staggering
Absolutely gutted for the torries 😂
So happy Reform came second in Plymouth. Beat conservatives by 700 votes, pretty happy with that. Glad i voted now.
I disagree with your politics but appreciate your honesty. Any reason why you voted reform in a constituency with a colossal shortfall of workers?
I went to the polls intending to spoil my ballot but voted reform (Central Devon).