In 2024, we can expect a General Election to be called at some as-yet unknown date between May and December. For a couple of reasons, this election will be different to those that have gone before.

Firstly, this will be the first ever national election where you will need ID to vote. This Conservative government has pushed through such restrictions – and you should seek to prepare, by obtaining a “valid” form of identification or a Voter Identification Certificate.

Secondly, the constituency boundaries have been redrawn. Well-informed readers of the Herald will know that a General Election is not one single poll, in which all votes are added together nationally – as might happen in a referendum. Rather, we have a system in which the candidate (and party) who gets the most votes in your constituency wins the privilege of representing you.

The West Country is made up of 55 constituencies and 12 of those are currently in Devon. The Electoral Commission says it has made boundary changes in pursuit of constituencies that have roughly the same number of voters.

I will be standing in the new Honiton and Sidmouth constituency, which will be formed from 70 per cent of the constituency that I already represent as your Liberal Democrat MP – including Honiton, Seaton, Beer, Axminster and Cullompton. The remaining 30 per cent will be taken from the current East Devon constituency, to include Sidmouth, Ottery St Mary, and West Hill.

Polling suggests the contest in Honiton and Sidmouth will be close between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. The government has massively increased campaign spending limits. This will afford the Conservatives the opportunity to use their massive campaign war chest, supported for example by a £5m donation last year from Mohamed Mansour, an Egyptian-born billionaire.

We’ve already seen how unscrupulous some candidates are prepared to be. One has gone so far as to claim to be our area’s 'local MP' when they are not. Honesty and integrity should be at the heart of our political process.

I’m standing at the General Election to give you the chance to vote for a hard-working Liberal Democrat local champion who will always put the needs of our communities first – not serving the whim of Conservative Party whips in Westminster.