Progressive Parties in South Devon have joined together as part of an electoral pact to oust the local Tory MP.
Campaigners in the local area are attempting to find a unity candidate in order to attract votes from people who would be considering voting for the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats or the Greens.
The organisers will be hosting a "South Devon Primary" election in order to select what they call a "People's Champion".
They ague that the UK's voting system, first-past-the-post, is no longer "fit for purpose"
Progressive Parties in South Devon have joined together as part of an electoral pact to oust the local Tory MP
GOV.UK
The winner of the South Devon Primary will have the endorsement of the local campaigners, but the losing candidates will remain on the ballot paper.
They will be elected through voting at seven town hall events across the constituency over the next two weeks.
The first event, which took place in Totnes on Saturday, was not attended by Labour, as the party had not yet selected its candidate.
Incumbent Tory MP for Totnes, Anthony Mangall, accused those hoping to select a unity candidate of attempting to “restrict democracy”.
Addressing Saturday's event, Lib Dem candidate Carol Voaden said: "I am here because I don’t want to be represented in Westminster by a Tory MP for a minute longer and by an inept, corrupt and cruel government lost in the political wilderness."
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She added: "I do not want to be standing there on election night on that platform by Anthony Mangnall’s smug face because he has won this election by a thousand votes. Visualise how that will feel."
The local constituency, which was previously Totnes, but will become South Devon at the next election following boundary changes, has returned Conservatives in general elections since its 1997 recreation.
But it came close to falling to the Liberal Democrats in 1997.
Its previous Conservative MP, Dr Sarah Wollaston, defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2019 after becoming frustrated with the Tory party's position on Brexit.
She lost her seat in 2019, coming second to a new Conservative candidate.
The Tories are currently more than 20 points behind Labour in the polls with the party attempting to claw back its position ahead of the next general election, taking place this year.
