Claire Wright (politician)
Claire Wright | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Independent |
Website | claire-wright |
Claire L Wright[1] is a British politician. She is a Devon county councillor and stood as an independent for East Devon in the 2019 United Kingdom general election.[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 the Devon County Council in 2013 with 74 percent of the votes.[3][4] She stood as a parliamentary candidate in the 2015 and 2017 elections, receiving increasing margins of the vote.[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 used to be considered a safe seat. With growing support in the 2017 general election for Wright, polling indicated 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 was unsure.[11]
Personal life
Wright lives in Ottery St Mary in East Devon.[3]
Electoral record
2019 general election
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 |
2017 general election
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 |
2015 general election
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[16] | 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 |
References
- ^ https://eastdevon.gov.uk/news/2019/12/conservative-elected-as-mp-for-east-devon/
- ^ Clark, Daniel (2 November 2019). "Independent who hopes to end 150 years of Conservatives in East Devon". Express & Echo. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d Chakelian, Anoosh (29 November 2019). "Rural revolt: The independent rebellion threatening Tory Devon". New Statesman. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Bennett, Asa (4 May 2015). "Meet the Ottery independent candidate who could take one of the Tories' safest seats". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ a b Parsley, David (29 November 2019). "Disgruntled Tories may not vote in Devon, giving independent candidate a chance". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Capurro, Daniel (23 November 2019). "Hot seat: East Devon - Can Independent take Tory seat after 150 years?". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ a b Smith, Colleen (13 September 2019). "All eyes on Devon's Claire Wright ahead of General Election". Devon Live. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ Association, Press (28 November 2019). "Poll suggests Liberal Democrat defectors set to lose in General Election". Evening Express. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ "Martin Bell OBE backs Independent Claire Wright to be East Devon MP". East Devon News. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "East Devon parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ "Independent Wright 'incredibly sad' after defeat". Radio Exe. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Statement of persons nominated, notice of poll and situation of polling stations: East Devon" (PDF). East Devon District Council. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
- ^ "Devon East parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ Labour, East Devon (16 February 2015). "East Devon unanimously and warmly selected Steve Race as their PPC.. Agent Ray Davison said: ' Steve is in every way an MP to be.'".