LABOUR Party leaders in Teignbridge say they will be fielding candidates in the next general election despite claims by the Lib Dems that it has ‘given up’.

Roger Jackson, chairman of the Newton Abbot Constituency Labour Party, says the seats in both Newton Abbot and Central Devon will be fought ‘very actively’. 

In Teignbridge, he says, they will be ‘fighting every inch of the way to rid Teignbridge of a failed Conservative Government and a Liberal Democrat Party, under the leadership of Martin Wrigley, that has run Teignbridge District Council into the ground’.  

The Labour Party response comes after Cllr Wrigley, who is the Liberal Democrat, declared next election a ‘two horse race between the Liberal Democrats and a desperately out of touch Conservative party’.

Cllr Wrigley had claimed that Labour saw Newton Abbot as a ‘non-battleground’ seat. 

But Mr Jackson said: Nothing could be further from the truth.

He said this emanated from the Labour Party announcing its priority seats would be Plymouth and Exeter as the seats it needs to win the next election and form a government.

He said: ‘The Liberal Democrats have interpreted this as non-priority seats are not being contested or fought.

‘The only certain outcome of the upcoming General Election is that the Liberal Democrats will not be forming the next Government. 

‘So, if the voters of the Newton Abbot Constituency want to see real change, and have their voice heard in Government, they will have real opportunity to do so by voting Labour.’

The Newton Abbot Constituency Labour Party is in the process of selecting its candidate and plans to launch its election campaign towards the end of February. 

Mr Jackson says its plans are ‘well advanced’ with a full programme of leafletting, meet the public events, and an active social media campaign. 

He said: ‘Newton Abbot may not be a priority seat but our aim is to mount an effective campaign and will be ready whenever the election is called.  

‘It is the policy of Newton Abbot Labour Party that we will campaign positively about the things that matter to the people of the constituency at both a local and national level. 

‘We will not indulge in personal attacks on other individual candidates or present dodgy statistics but will simply layout the facts that will enable voters to make an informed choice as to who can best represent them.’