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Claire Wright (politician)

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Claire Wright
Devon County Councillor
for Otter Valley
Ottery St. Mary Rural (2013–2017)
In office
2 May 2013 – 6 May 2021
Preceded byRoger Giles
Succeeded byJess Bailey
Personal details
NationalityBritish
Political partyIndependent
ResidenceOttery St Mary
Websiteclaire-wright.org Edit this at Wikidata

Claire Wright[1] is a British politician. She was a Devon county councillor from 2013 to 2021 and stood as an independent for East Devon in the 2015, 2017, and 2019 United Kingdom general elections, coming second each time.[2]

Career

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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 Devon County Council in 2013 with 74 percent of the vote.[3][4] She stood as a parliamentary candidate in the 2015, 2017, and 2019 elections, receiving progressively larger shares of the vote each time.[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 was considered a safe seat. With growing support in the 2017 general election for Wright, polling indicated that 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 said she was unsure.[11] In 2021, she announced she would not stand in the 2021 County Council elections.[12]

In Diary of an MP's Wife (2020), the memoirs of Sasha Swire, Wright is frequently referred to by the nickname "Claire Wrong".[13]

After the resignation of Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, in May 2022, there were some suggestions that Wright would stand in the subsequent by-election. However, she clarified on a statement on Twitter that she would not put her name forward, instead endorsing the Liberal Democrats.[14][15] Although Tiverton and Honiton had also been a safe seat for the Tories before, Liberal Democrat candidate Richard Foord overturned Parish's 2019 majority of more than 24,000 votes and was elected.[16]

For the 2024 general election in the newly created constituencies of Exmouth and Exeter East and Honiton and Sidmouth, Wright has endorsed the campaigns of the prospective Liberal Democrat candidates, and declined to stand in either constituency.[17][18]

Personal life

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Wright lives in Ottery St Mary in East Devon.[3]

Electoral record

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2019 general election

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General election 2019: East Devon[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Simon Jupp 32,577 50.8 Increase 2.3
Independent Claire Wright 25,869 40.4 Increase 5.1
Labour Dan Wilson 2,870 4.5 Decrease 6.9
Liberal Democrats Eleanor Rylance 1,771 2.8 Increase 0.3
Green Henry Gent 711 1.1 New
Independent Peter Faithfull 275 0.4 Increase 0.2
Majority 6,708 10.4 Decrease 2.9
Turnout 64,073 73.8 Increase 0.5
Conservative hold Swing

2017 general election

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[21]
General election 2017: East Devon[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Hugo Swire 29,306 48.5 Increase 2.1
Independent Claire Wright 21,270 35.2 Increase 11.2
Labour Jan Ross 6,857 11.4 Increase 1.1
Liberal Democrats Alison Eden 1,468 2.4 Decrease 4.4
UKIP Brigitte Graham 1,203 2.0 Decrease 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

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General election 2015: East Devon[22]
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[23] 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

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  1. ^ "13 December 2019 – Conservative elected as MP for East Devon". East Devon. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  2. ^ Clark, Daniel (2 November 2019). "Independent who hopes to end 150 years of Conservatives in East Devon". Express & Echo. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Chakelian, Anoosh (29 November 2019). "Rural revolt: The independent rebellion threatening Tory Devon". New Statesman. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b Smith, Colleen (13 September 2019). "All eyes on Devon's Claire Wright ahead of General Election". Devon Live. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Poll suggests Liberal Democrat defectors set to lose in General Election". Evening Express. Press Association. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Martin Bell OBE backs Independent Claire Wright to be East Devon MP". East Devon News. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  10. ^ "East Devon parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Independent Wright 'incredibly sad' after defeat". Radio Exe. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Claire Wright quits politics". Sidmouth Herald. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  13. ^ Semple, Sandra (28 September 2020). "Sasha Swire's 'Diary of an MP's Wife' : superiority, sex and sneering". West Country Voices.
  14. ^ Claire, Wright (1 May 2022). "Thank you so much to everyone who has urged me to run in the Tiverton and Honiton by-election..." Twitter. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  15. ^ Marshall, Christine (1 May 2022). "VIDEO: "Lib Dems can be the main challengers in Tiverton and Honiton by-election" – Ed Davey". Mark Pack. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  16. ^ Walker, Peter (24 June 2022). "Tories lose two key byelections on same night in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton". The Guardian.
  17. ^ https://twitter.com/ClaireWrightInd/status/1761416515042062563?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
  18. ^ https://twitter.com/ClaireWrightInd/status/1685724708040237057
  19. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 November 2019.
  20. ^ "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.
  21. ^ "Devon East parliamentary constituency – Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  22. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  23. ^ 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.'".
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