The Liberal Democrats have announced Councillor Charlotte FitzGerald as their candidate for Exmouth & Exeter East in the next General Election. 

An established local campaigner on high streets, sewage pollution, and the local economy, Charlotte hopes her track record of action will stand her in good stead to win at the next General Election. 

Stuart Mole, President of the Exmouth & Exeter East Liberal Democrats, commented: “We are hugely impressed by Charlotte’s energy, her commitment to the area and the fresh ideas she can bring in tackling local problems. At the 2024 general election, in a tight three-way fight, the Liberal Democrats came close. Since then, while Conservative and Labour support has declined, the Lib Dems have continued to advance, most recently gaining a seat on Exeter City Council. We believe that, with Charlotte as our champion, victory is within reach.”

Charlotte believes her local knowledge gives her the edge over the opposition. “Exmouth & Exeter East is a diverse constituency – I lived in East Exeter and now in rural Budleigh & Raleigh, so I know it well.” On choosing to settle in Exmouth & Exeter East, Charlotte says, “My mother’s family are from Honiton, and my partner grew up on a dairy farm near Colyton. Raising our family here has brought us close to the issues that matter to people. We are lucky enough to own our house, but this is not a realistic option for many who have grown up here.” 

From her first day as a councillor, Charlotte has advocated strongly for building and maintaining sustainable communities. “I know it is harder than ever for people to buy their own house, and that making the leap to home ownership is delaying people from moving on in life. The whole system is clogged by ill-considered policies. I am committed to getting the housing that fits the needs of local people, in the right place.”

Commenting on the demise of the traditional high street, Charlotte says, “The high streets in Exmouth, Topsham and Budleigh are the lifeblood of their areas – as they undergo inevitable changes, these spaces are something worth supporting and actively reimagining.” She points to Love Topsham, Shop Budleigh and Exmouth’s Gate to Plate as leading rejuvenation projects, seeing them as green shoots of recovery.

Charlotte is passionate about health. She helped win support at East Devon District Council for a combined leisure, health and wellbeing facility at Cranbrook. Her recent community roundtable on the future of the local libraries attracted hundreds of people – many more were turned away at the door. “The community roundtable I held in Budleigh drew overwhelming support. Libraries represent everything that is good about our communities, which is why I am working hard to protect them.”

Sewage problems affecting the constituency have come under close scrutiny by Charlotte, particularly since Budleigh Salterton lost its Blue Flag status earlier this year. “Dealing with the water company, regulator and citizen science groups has opened my eyes to shocking truths about the sewage treatment problems and resulting water pollution in our constituency,” says Charlotte. “Our rivers and coastline are among the most polluted in the whole country. It’s damaging to residents, to nature and to our valuable tourism industry, particularly in Exmouth, where repeated outflows in summer months have caused so much harm to local businesses. My team is the only one with a credible plan to tackle the issue, after years of Conservative inaction and Labour’s refusal to clean up the mess.”

Charlotte will focus on securing support for local businesses and skills, which she says are necessary for future-proofing residents' careers and the local economy. “In addition to championing training and skills for early and mid-career professionals, I will continue to work hard to deliver support for local businesses, especially those in the green economy and the science and tech sector, where Exeter is leading the way.”

Charlotte is determined to break from the norm in the way she serves the community. “Trust in politicians needs reviving. This is what I have been hearing on the doorsteps around the constituency. I am determined to be that change, being a local champion for Exmouth & Exeter East.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• Charlotte was elected to East Devon District Council in the May 2023 elections, initially as an independent, before joining the Liberal Democrat group in October 2024
• The Liberal Democrat candidate, Paul Arnott, finished a strong third in the constituency at the 2024 General Election, increasing the party’s vote share in the constituency against the notional 2019 result by nearly 20% - more than any other candidate
• The 2024 General Election result makes Exmouth & Exeter East a close three-way marginal parliamentary seat, with the main parties separated by only 3,000 votes, and was the seventh-closest result for the Liberal Democrats nationally in a constituency not won by the party
• Fourteen Liberal Democrat District and City Councillors are currently in office within the constituency, more than twice as many as any other party, and the party saw their first Exeter City Councillor within the constituency elected in St Loyes ward in the 7^th May elections

From Chair of EastDevon Liberal Democrats

We have had reports that our LibDem campaign leaflets were not seen everywhere. I am very concerned about ths and would like to investigate it further. Voters need to get details of candiates and views to be fully informed and to make their choices.

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions placed by the government to keep the community safe, there were limits on what political parties could do in terms of campaigning. Given the fast changing nature of the virus and the need for communitysafety, there were no guarantees that any restrictions would be lifted in time. At Christmas, and at Eid, the government had, at very short notice, imposed tighter restrictions on activity.

So in order to comply with Covid guidance, ensure voters got information, and that our volunteers and the public were kept safe, locally we took the unprecendented decision to contract delivery with Royal Mail using their Door2Door service. The contract was for Royal Mail to deliver our campaign leaflets in the period 12th April to 24th April (which would cover the arrival of postal votes

Vote enough LibDems into county hall on May 6th, and this is what we will be able do for you:

Working with other councillors, the council will no longer be led by the Conservatives and their closely allied independents. Huge congratulations to all our LibDem councillors for showing how to work collaboratively with a range of people to enable the change mandated last May. Congratulations especially go to our very experienced LibDem councillor Eileen Wragg who has been voted in as Deputy Leader.

Statement:

At the local elections last year, Conservative control of East Devon Council was decisively rejected. The eight strong group of Liberal Democrats had high hopes this would be the start of a better future for East Devon. We hoped that the new independent administration would be willing to promote change; setting a new course, and working with all groups in promoting a culture of openness, accountability and tolerance. Instead, it seems that, for the ruling group of independents supported by Tories, it was business as usual, continuing the inertia and wasted opportunity of previous years.

While this has been a source of huge frustration for Liberal Democrats, the past year has also given us the opportunity to work with other councillors, some in other political parties and some with no party label, who share a progressive approach to local government. We find that we share a common purpose in working for urgent action to address climate change and sustainability, and in promoting fairness, accountability and democracy. That is why we have now come together to form the Democratic Alliance and to take up the opportunity of providing East Devon Council with fresh, energetic and progressive leadership which includes our very experienced LibDem Cllr Eileen Wragg as Deputy Leader. Last May, East Devon residents voted for change - and that is the electoral mandate which, in partnership with our colleagues, we now aim to fulfil.

The handling of Covid-19 has not been adequate, communication and facts have been mismanaged, and any policy seems to be altered to keep key people in post and not to address the public health needs of responding to a pandemic.

Today the Office for National Statistics has criticised the Government's presentation of data. The Financial Times has been excellent at number crunching, comparing UK figures with other countries and keeping track of excess deaths. As of today, the FT suggest the UK has had 62,000 excess deaths, that is deaths above the average expected. Most are directly related to covid-19 but about a quarter could be because the NHS had to scale back other treatments in order to deal with the virus.

Many of those that survive the infection describe a lengthy period of further problems.

To date East Devon has not had a high infection rate, but that may not continue as more people are free to travel to the area. There are local Covid-19 support groups, contact them if you need help, or able to offer help.

EDDC send out updates each week with useful information, to residents and businesses

Keep safe.

We certainly aren't all in it together. If only there weren't two sorts of rules ....

Today, despite the need for as many people as possible to work from home, the government is demanding MPs end remote working and voting.

Just to physically vote in Parliament whilst social distancing requires a line just under a mile long.

MPs who are shielding, or isolating, will not be able to represent their constituents.

All because Johnson needs an audience and the Tory whips can't twist arms as easily from a distance

Here is the link to an excellent twitter thread written by Ruth Fox, Director of the Hansard Society