General election 2024: Bridgwater Conservative candidate demands focus on 'real issues' amid 'lying' claims

A Conservative general election candidate has called for a focus on "the real issues" following allegations that he lied to MPs before his selection. Ashley Fox is standing as the Tory candidate in the new Bridgwater constituency, having been formally selected in September 2023.

Reports appeared in The Guardian in early-June that Mr Fox had promised not to seek political office back in 2020 while serving as chairman of the Independent Monitoring Authority (IMA), which monitors how the rights of EU and EEA citizens are protected in UK public bodies. The report allege that Mr Fox had lied to members of the parliamentary justice select committee that he would not seek an elected position.

Mr Fox said that the allegations were "a smear story written by the Labour Party" and said he wanted to focus on the issues that mattered most to the people of Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea, Highbridge and the surrounding villages. Maria Eagle, who set on the select committee as a Labour MP during Mr Fox's tenure at the IMA, told The Guardian : "Sir Ashley appears to have repeatedly lied to me and other members of the select committee about his intentions to stand for parliament while seeking a non-political role, posing serious questions about his suitability for public office.

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"Had he done this as a serving MP, it would have warranted a formal investigation, so why has he been deemed an acceptable Conservative party candidate for the election?" Mr Fox's role as IMA chairman - which he held until he was selected as a Conservative candidate - involved an average of two days' work a week, at a rate of £500 per day.

Responding to the allegations, Mr Fox told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "This is a smear story written by the Labour Party and published by their friends in The Guardian . I was appointed as chairman of the IMA in 2020 and gave a commitment not to seek or hold political office.

"In 2023 my circumstances had changed and I decided that I did want to stand for election. I was selected as the Conservative candidate for Bridgwater in September 2023 and immediately resigned my position at the IMA.

"I believe the people of Bridgwater deserve a better election campaign in which the candidates discuss the real issues involved rather than this Labour Party smear." Leigh Redman, who is standing for Labour in the Bridgwater seat, said he was "not surprised" by the allegations that had surfaced surrounding Mr. Fox.

He said: "As the Tories stumbled to the end of another week of PR disasters and unforced errors, the national picture is being mirrored in local constituencies around the country, including mine here in Bridgwater. In this case, a candidate made assurances that he had no intention of applying for political office, only to put himself forward at the next available opportunity.

"Putting aside the fact that as chairman of the IMA, his two days a week netted him substantially more than a full week’s wages for a local resident, his repeated assurances – in person and on paper – that he would not be seeking election should dent his reputation in the eyes of his IMA colleagues and the people he wishes to represent in equal measure. From the Prime Minister down to individual prospective MPs, lying seems to be in the Conservatives’ DNA and I hope the people of Bridgwater vote for real change on July 4, putting an end to this country-wide embarrassment."

Claire Sully, who is standing for the Liberal Democrats in the same seat, added: "Accusations of lying to secure a lucrative, influential and, importantly, a non-political role, are serious and pose questions over Mr Fox's character and his suitability as an MP. Being committed to local communities and prioritising people, I am standing on a platform to restore to politics decency and integrity, traits that have been woefully missing from a significant number of its members in the last parliament."

The complete list of candidates standing in the Bridgwater constituency on July 4 as it follows:

• Pele Barnes (Independent, a.k.a. Somerset United Party)

• William Fagg (Reform UK)

• Ashley Fox (Conservative)

• Charles Graham (Green Party)

• Leigh Redman (Labour)

• Claire Sully (Liberal Democrat)

• Gregory Tanner (Workers Party of Britain)