The Labor and Liberal Democrats are both candidates in the by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton, but have been accused of deliberately campaigning weaker in the seat where the other is stronger. Wakefield has been held by the Conservatives since 2019 and is widely expected to return to the Labor Party following the resignation of Imran Ahmad Khan, who was convicted of sexually abusing a teenager. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has not visited the constituency at all during the midterm campaign, despite having visited Tiverton and Honiton four times. A Liberal Democrat spokesman denied that there was a deal with Labor or that the party was moving “softly” in Wakefield – pointing to a visit by Daisy Cooper, the party’s deputy leader, earlier this month. “There is no pact and there will be no agreement,” the spokesman said. “From Devon to Yorkshire, lifelong Conservative voters tell us they’re tired of lying and breaking Boris Johnson’s law.” The majority of Tory’s 24,000 votes could be overturned by the Liberal Democrats in Tiverton and Honiton following the resignation of Neil Parish, who was arrested for watching pornography in the House of Commons. Labor MP Ben Branchow has suggested that voters in the constituency may want to consider voting for the Liberal Democrats instead of his party candidate Liz Pole. “What some Labor members and activists do not always appreciate is that many Conservative voters, if they want to kick the government, will vote for Liberal Democrats, but they would not vote for Labor,” he said. “So if we have a common goal of sending a message to the Prime Minister and finally defeating this government in a general election, then I think there are very good prospects for a victory for the Liberal Democrats there.”
