Torbay heads to the polls: Here's a quick look at your current candidates

The starting gun has sounded. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has surprised the nation, as well as many politicians, by calling a summer general election.

In the pouring rain, Mr Sunak announced that the UK would go to the ballots on July 4, as D:Ream’s Things Can Only Get Better blared outside the Downing Street gates.

Incumbent MPs and rival candidates are now scrambling to launch their campaigns and convince voters why they are the best person for the job.

Many had assumed that Mr Sunak would bide his time and let the economy improve before calling an election, given the polls currently give Labour a 20 per cent lead over the Tories.

It’s been reported that most Conservative MPs were blindsided, including many cabinet ministers. As parliament prepared to be dissolved this week, various tranches of planned legislation were either rushed through or scrapped.

For the first time since Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis, Torbay residents will now have the chance to choose their member of parliament and ultimately their government.

In Torbay, Conservative MP Kevin Foster will be running for re-election. He won the seat from Liberal Democrat Adrian Saunders in 2015 and has increased his majority in each election since. In 2019, he received 59 per cent of the vote, more than double his nearest rival.

However, given the Tories’ standing in the national opinion polls, even this substantial majority could be considered to be in peril. In April 2024, a YouGov poll suggested that Mr Foster is at risk of losing his seat to the Liberal Democrats.

He questioned the validity of the poll, saying: “Only one poll will matter, the one on election day.”

On the election, Mr Foster said: “Our bay needs energy, commitment and a positive plan for the future. With one of the biggest programmes of investment for decades getting underway, we cannot see Torbay taken back to square one.”

“The Lib Dems record running Torbay Council showed they can’t deliver, and the Labour Party won’t deliver for our bay. On Thursday 4th July residents can vote to back my positive plan and work throughout the year, or instead vote for parties\candidates who show up at election time and are more interested in party-political point scoring & personal attacks, than making a positive difference for our bay.”

Torbay’s Liberal Democrat candidate Steve Darling will be campaigning for action on the cost of living, the NHS crisis and the sewage scandal.

He said: “For years, Torbay has been taken for granted by an out-of-touch Conservative government that has failed to get the basics right and lurched from crisis to crisis - now it’s time for a change.

“Local health services have been brought to their knees, people’s mortgages and rents have skyrocketed and water companies have been allowed to pump their filthy sewage across Torbay's world-renowned coastline. All this by a Conservative government more interested in fighting among themselves than standing up for the country.

“For too long, Torbay has been let down. This election is our chance to finally get the change we need - and the fair deal we deserve.”

A new challenger on the scene is Reform UK, a party founded and backed by Nigel Farage following his split from UKIP.
In Torbay, Reform’s hopeful is Gordon Scott, who said: “I have decided to stand in the next general election because, like you, I have seen successive governments fail to govern in the best interests of the people. In fact, it now seems that policy is being deliberately designed to undermine us.

“It is now up to us to push back against the government’s mission creep, which is why I feel compelled to stand for Reform UK.”

Chris Wongsosaputro has now been nominated as Labour's Torbay candidate. Chris said: "Honoured and humbled to be the Labour candidate for Torbay! It’s time for change after 14 years of Tory chaos and decline.

"Looking forward to the campaign trail and sharing Labour's message that we can make seaside towns across Torbay and the UK great again!"

Party secretary Kathryn Bestwick said: “This is the chance to change Torbay with Labour. Over the course of the last four years we have changed the Labour Party and returned it once more to the service of working people. Torbay Labour looks forward to playing our part in returning Labour to government.”

Torbay Green Party have selected local resident, campaigner and previous Torbay Councillor Charlie West as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Torbay Constituency at the General Election

Charlie said: “My parents lived in Torbay most their lives, I grew up here, and I have lived here most of my life. Our children are now enjoying the same fantastic beaches and facilities of the Bay. I now want to put something more back, and be a strong voice for the Bay in Parliament”

“In addition to the clear climate emergency we are facing, I am concerned over the cost of living for residents, and the hidden poverty behind the idyllic seaside town image of the Bay. I want to work with partners to make a difference to the inadequate public transport around Torbay, and with Planners to improve the supply of affordable housing for young families”

The other constituency that affects Torbay is South Devon, which encompasses Brixham. The constituency was previously called Totnes and had slightly different boundaries at the last election.

The Conservatives also currently hold this constituency, with 34-year-old Anthony Mangnall taking the seat from the Tory-come Lib Dem incumbent Sarah Wollaston in 2019. According to BBC data, the change in boundaries would not have changed the outcome of the 2019 election, but that doesn’t mean that Mr Mangnall is safe.

Although the Tories have held the seat here almost continuously for 100 years, Mr Mangnall faces a new threat in the form of the South Devon Primary. Set up several years ago, the South Devon Primary is an organisation that aims to unite the ‘progressive’ parties of Liberal Democrats and Greens in backing a single candidate at the next general election. Debates were held across the South Devon constituency and participants voted on their preferred candidate.

With just under 80 per cent of about 1,000 votes, Liberal Democrat Caroline Voaden emerged victorious. Supporters hope that voters will now unite around Ms Voaden at the general election.

She said she was “pleased” that Mr Sunak had “finally” called an election. She continued: “The country is crying out for change, and we now have the chance to vote this dreadful Conservative government out of office. I've been campaigning for well over a year now and every day people tell me how angry they are about the state of our NHS, the sewage in our water and the huge rises in their household bills. The recent fiasco with the drinking water in Brixham is a prime example of how broken our country is and how much damage is caused by the pursuit of shareholder profit above all else.

“I want to change that. I will always prioritise communities, people and our environment over profit. It will be a close fight between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives but I'm ready for the challenge and looking forward to being the first non-Conservative elected here in over 100 years on July 4th.”

Mr Mangnall called the South Devon Primary a “Lib Dem, Green stitch-up”.

“I'm not nervous and nor am I complacent, I'm just determined to get on with the job at hand and do the best I can,” he added.

“I am delighted an election has been called and that I now have a chance to stand on my record of delivering for the people of South Devon. Over the past four years, I have worked hard to put their needs first and to be a strong local voice in Westminster.”

A former diplomat and reservist from the Royal Naval Reserve has been selected as the Labour candidate for South Devon. He is Daniel Steel, who was born in and grew up in Devon.

Daniel said: “It is truly a privilege to be selected to stand as the first ever Labour candidate for the new seat of South Devon.

“After 14 years of the Tories, people are crying out for change across the country, including in South Devon. Labour is the only party with a plan to deliver it.

“My entire career has been dedicated to the service of others. This is rooted in the values I was taught growing up in a service family. It has taken me around the world, but I feel lucky to call Devon, my home."

Reform UK’s candidate in South Devon is Michael Bagley, who has called for a hustings to take place as soon as possible.
Mr Bagley said: “Rishi Sunak’s sudden announcement of an election may have come as a surprise to everyone but, now it’s been made, we must make the most of it.

“It’s about time the Government was taken to task for its lies and deceptions. How do the promises of Labour and the Lib Dems stack up? And what about the ideas of Reform UK? Are they worth voting for? The people of Brixham have a right to hear all their candidates and to ask them questions.”