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Sarah Dyke

British politician (born 1971) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sarah Dyke
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Sarah Joanne Dyke (born 1971) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Glastonbury and Somerton since 2024 and was previously MP for Somerton and Frome from 2023 to 2024.

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Early life and education

Sarah Joanne Dyke[1] was born in 1971 and comes from a Somerset farming family that can be traced back more than 250 years to the local area.[2][3] She was privately educated at Warminster School and studied agricultural and business studies at Harper Adams University.[2]

Local government career

Dyke represented Blackmoor Vale on Somerset Council from the 2022 election, and was the council's lead member for environment and climate change, until June 2023.[4] Prior to this she served as Milborne Port councillor on South Somerset District Council having been first elected in 2015, re-elected in 2019 and appointed Portfolio Holder for Environment. She also chaired the regeneration board for South Somerset District Council for a short period from August 2021 until funding for the project was paused in 2022.[5][6]

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Parliamentary career

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Dyke was selected as the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Somerton and Frome in May 2022.[7] On 17 June 2023, David Warburton, MP for Somerton and Frome since 2015, announced his intention to resign from Parliament following allegations of sexual harassment.[8] During her campaign it was reported that Dyke was a supporter of Extinction Rebellion.[9]

At the July 2023 by-election, Dyke was elected as an MP with 54.6 per cent of the vote and a majority of 11,008, on a swing of 29.0 per cent from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats.[10] On her election, she commented on the absence of her predecessor, saying: "Instead of an absent Conservative MP letting you down, you have an active Lib Dem MP lifting you up."[11] She was sworn in as an MP on 4 September following the parliamentary summer recess,[12] along with Keir Mather and Steve Tuckwell.[13] Mather, from the Labour Party, was elected for Selby and Ainsty, and Tuckwell, from the Conservative Party, was elected for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in two by-elections held on the same day as Dyke's.

Following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Somerton and Frome was abolished as a parliamentary constituency, to form two new constituencies: Glastonbury and Somerton and Frome and East Somerset, which were contested for the first time at the 2024 general election.[11] Dyke was re-elected to Parliament to represent Glastonbury and Somerton, with 42.7 per cent of the vote and a majority of 6,611 over the second-placed Conservative candidate. The BBC calculated that the changed boundaries made the new seat notionally Conservative, so categorised Dyke's victory as a Liberal Democrat gain from the Conservatives.[14][15]

Personal life

At the time of her election Dyke owned sixty sheep, four dogs and a cat, and ran a second-hand goods business, Vintage Ghetto.[2]

Dyke is openly LGBT+.[16]

References

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