Somerton and Frome: Lib Dems overturn Tory majority in by-election win

Sarah Dyke, the new Liberal Democrat MP, with their supporters at the Bath & West Showground in Shepton Mallet. Credit: PA Images

The Liberal Democrats have won the Somerton and Frome by-election, overturning a Conservative majority of more than 19,000.

Sarah Dyke has been elected as the new MP for the Somerset constituency, winning by 11,008 votes in a 29% swing away from Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.

The by-election was triggered by MP David Warburton's resignation in June after he admitted using cocaine.

Mr Warburton had held the seat in one of the West Country's largest constituencies since 2015. Before then, it was under the control of the Lib Dems for 18 years.

It is one of three by-elections which have taken place across the country, including in former prime minister Boris Johnson's constituency Uxbridge and South Ruislip - the only seat kept by the Tories after an historic defeat to Labour in Selby and Ainsty.

Sarah Dyke won the Somerset seat with more than 11,000 votes in a 29% swing away from Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party. Credit: PA Images

Somerton and Frome is the fourth seat the Liberal Democrats have taken from the Conservatives at a by-election since the 2019 general election, all of which have changed hands on huge swings in the vote.

The Conservatives were defending a majority at Somerton of 19,213 and it is one of the largest of its kind to be overturned at a UK by-election since 1945.

  • Newly-elected Somerton and Frome MP Sarah Dyke on her by-election victory

Speaking for the first time as the Somerton and Frome MP, Sarah Dyke said she was “excited, exhilarated and most of all humbled” at the result.

"People know if they put their faith in a Liberal Democrat that they are going to have a hard-working MP. This gives me the opportunity to get out there and show the difference that I can make as a local champion for people in Somerton and Frome.

"To get an MP back in Somerset, following in the footsteps of David Heath and the great Paddy Ashdown will be amazing and I'm sure people in Somerton and Frome will get out there and vote for me next time."

As soon as the result was declared, defeated Conservative candidate Faye Purbrick left via a side entrance and got into a waiting car.

  • "I'll be back"- defeated Tory MP Faye Purbrick tells ITV News

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said the Somerton and Frome result showed his party was once again winning votes in its former West Country heartland.

“The people of Somerton and Frome have spoken for the rest of the country who are fed up with Rishi Sunak’s out-of-touch Conservative government,” he said.

Analysis from ITV News West Country's Political Correspondent David Wood

It would have been a major surprise had the Liberal Democrats not taken this constituency.

They've been preparing for this by-election from the moment allegations first emerged against the previous MP David Warburton back in April 2022.

This win really matters to the party, yes, they have won other by-elections and overturned huge Conservative majorities, like in Tiverton and Honiton last year, but when the party was at its strongest in the late 90s and early 2000s it held Somerton and Frome. So the party will see this as a sign they're winning back voters here in the West Country that they lost in 2015.

The West Country, especially Somerset, had been the heartland for the Lib Dems, but the party was wiped out here in the 2015 general election.

Slowly it has been gaining ground here especially after taking control of Somerset Council last year. The challenge for the party is to win over other parts of the South West in the build up to the next general election, likely in the next 12-18 months.

Whilst the Conservatives will look to put a brave face on today and say they predicted the result, there will be many nervous MPs looking at their majorities, in many cases smaller than the Conservative majority in Somerton and Frome last time round and starting to worry.

Much of the focus of the next election nationally will be Labour versus Conservatives, however in parts of Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall it is the Lib Dems who are feared most by Conservative MPs.

It is still relatively early stages in the Lib Dem bounceback but this win is a significant step and will boost morale amongst the party's activists.

So many West Country Conservatives fear confident and upbeat Lib Dems most come election time. Don't underestimate how much this win today has boosted that confidence and that morale. 

  • Somerton and Frome MP Sarah Dyke sits down with ITV News West Country's Political Correspondent David Wood

Somerton and Frome MP Sarah Dyke has described the last few weeks as a "whirlwind".

She told ITV News West Country what she hopes to achieve: “People have been telling me they are really annoyed, very frustrated and angry that they haven’t had that representation.

“People have said over and over again that they want change, and they see me as being that change."

The newly elected Somerton and Frome MP says she wants to put local issues at the centre of her work: “I want to get under the skin and help the constituents I’ve been talking to over the last year.”