The Brexit Party and Green Party have this week confirmed they won’t field candidates in the General Election on December 12th in the Wells constituency, which includes Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge.
Conservative James Heappey, the current MP, will be standing against Liberal Democrat candidate Tessa Munt, who was previously MP between 2010-2015, and Labour candidate Kama McKenzie.
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage announced on Monday that he has ditched plans to take on the Tories in more than 300 seats across the UK, after what he said was Boris Johnson’s “shift of position” on Brexit.
The Brexit Party leader had planned to run candidates in 600 seats after Mr Johnson rejected his offer of a “Leave alliance” to deliver Brexit, however he has been under pressure not to split the pro-Brexit vote.
The party will not now stand in 317 seats won by the Tories in 2017, including Wells. Burnham-On-Sea.com understands that Simon Smedley had been selected by the Brexit Party to stand as its candidate in the constituency until Nigel Farage’s announcement.
Meanwhile, the Lib Dems have made a ‘remain pact’ with the Green Party and Plaid Cymru ahead of the election. The deal means the three parties will not compete against each other in 60 target seats; instead, the party out of the three deemed most likely to take each seat will run for election.
The Greens have agreed to stand aside in the Wells constituency to give the Lib Dems a better chance of winning.
Nominations for those wanting to stand in the election can be accepted from 10am on Tuesday 12th November until 4pm on Thursday 14th November. Forms can be obtained from Bridgwater House, King’s Square, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 3AR.
Residents should also soon be receiving their polling card for the forthcoming general election and are advised to check the card to ensure they know which polling station they need to go to on Thursday, December 12th to vote.
If you don’t receive a poll card, you may not be registered to vote. You need to register to vote by midnight on Tuesday 26th November to make sure that you have your say at the ballot box for the general election. The easiest way to register is by visiting www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
The last day to apply for a postal vote is Tuesday, 26th November. Sedgemoor will be despatching their postal votes from Monday, November 25th.
