North Shropshire farmers react to shock Lib Dem by-election win

Farmers have given their reaction to the shock Liberal Democrat by-election win in the rural constituency of North Shropshire.

Lib Dem candidate Helen Morgan pulled off a stunning result on Friday morning (17 December).

She secured 17,957 votes, representing a swing of 34% from the Conservatives, giving the Lib Dems a majority of 5,925 votes. The Conservative candidate, Neil Shastri-Hurst, won 12,032 votes.

See also: Farmer support for Conservatives on the slide, FW survey reveals

The by-election was triggered after former Conservative minister Owen Paterson resigned in the wake of sleaze allegations for not disclosing his role lobbying on behalf of two private firms paying him more than £100,000 a year.

North Shropshire was the 58th safest Conservative seat in the country, and Mr Paterson had a majority of almost 23,000 votes in 2019.

The result will send shockwaves across the Conservatives, with the Daily Telegraph website describing it as the “nightmare before Christmas” for prime minister Boris Johnson and his party.

According to the latest Farmers Weekly Sentiment Survey, support for the Conservatives has fallen from 72% to 57% among farmers over the last 12 months.

From cutting their funding, to selling them out in trade deals, Conservatives have taken farmers for granted for too long.

Liberal Democrats back British farmers and we are delighted that farmers in North Shropshire, and across the country, are trusting us with their support. https://t.co/s46MjOVb1O

— Tim Farron (@timfarron) December 16, 2021

One North Shropshire farmer, who did not want to be named, said: “The government has no agri-food trade policy that makes any sense and no environmental policy that makes any sense. Therefore, no agricultural policy is discernible at all.

“Farmers are losing their direct payments and Defra’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme will be income foregone and will not pay farmers properly. We are going to be left out of pocket.

“The Basic Payment Scheme is being phased out, ELM is not ready and everybody is mad as hell with them [the Conservatives].

“Boris Johnson’s response to the pig industry has been awful. Pig farmers may be forced to cull 100,000 pigs for no reason. It’s an absolute joke.”

The farmer added that the Conservative campaign had treated voters in the constituency with contempt.

“There were more than 200 Lib Dem diamonds put up in farmers’ fields in North Shropshire,” said the farmer.

“The Conservative candidate was parachuted in from Birmingham and knew nothing about rural issues. The Tories campaigned with photos of Shrewsbury, which isn’t even in the same constituency. North Shropshire said: ‘We’ve had enough.’

“The politics of rural constituencies follows what farmers think. Nationally, the Tories are looking at oblivion unless they start sorting out their agricultural policies.”

Geoffrey Bastard, a farmer and agronomist based in North Shropshire, tweeted that he had “crossed the floor” as he was unhappy with the route the Conservatives were taking on agricultural policy, trade and other areas.

As Churchill did in 1904, I’ve crossed the floor🗳 Unhappy with the route this @Conservatives government is taking re: Agriculture policy, Trade, Cronyism & other factors. This may help send a message #NorthShropshire #northshropshirebyelection @LibDems pic.twitter.com/b6x0JAwkDk

— Geoffrey Bastard (@Geoffrey_RB) December 16, 2021

But Dairy farmer Richard Bowdler, who milks 1,800 cows across two farms in Melverley and Ellesmere in North Shropshire, said the result had left him feeling angry and frustrated.

“It’s a protest vote and I just do not feel at the moment the country needs more problems,” he told Farmers Weekly.

“I feel we need to be concentrating on more important things such as trade deals after Brexit and levelling up the economy rather than party politics.

“I’m also worried by the possibility of the country going into another Covid lockdown, which would have massive consequences for the food service sector.”

Mr Bowdler said Boris Johnson has been “getting a lot of stick” and he had “made a few mistakes”, but he believes the country should get behind the prime minister at a difficult time.

“The press will be circling and it will all be about how long Boris will last,” added Mr Bowdler.

“But we need to be coming together rather than creating hysteria. It is going to waste a lot of time and money.”

Mr Bowdler said he was not sure how much sway Mrs Morgan, the new Lib Dem MP for North Shropshire, will hold.

“She has run a good campaign about local issues, but if you want more money, it has got to come from the national pot,” he added.

“We live in a ‘blue’ area where all our neighbouring constituencies are blue. I don’t know how much weight she will have going forward.”