Former Postmistress To Stand Against Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey At General Election

A former postmistress is planning to run against Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey at the general election.

Yvonne Tracey said she wanted to take on the embattled former Post Office minister in his Kingston and Surbiton seat “to put honesty and integrity” into the contest.

Davey has come under fire over his response to the Post Office IT scandal when he was in office.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters were accused of fraud after money appeared to go missing from their Post Offices, despite the fact that a faulty computer system was to blame.

The scandal has hit the headlines due to the popularity of an ITV drama about the affair, prompting the government to announce emergency legislation to quash the convictions of those involved.

While he was minister for postal affairs between 2010 and 2012, Davey initially refused to meet with former sub-postmaster Alan Bates, saying it would “serve no useful purpose”. 

He has since said he “deeply regrets” accepting the Post Office’s assurances that the IT system was not at fault, but has refused to apologise.

Tracey, who worked at the New Malden Post Office in Davey’s constituency for more than 30 years, said: “Come the next election, it’s incumbent on those seeking justice for our sub-postmasters to send a strong message to Sir Ed.

“Sir Ed is now blaming others for his failure to challenge civil servants and do his job properly. His attitude to the hundreds of sub-postmasters over the years must be challenged.”

She added: “I’d encourage and wholeheartedly support the candidacy of a former sub-postmaster coming forward to take the challenge to Sir Ed – and indeed the other former postal ministers who are still MPs, who ignored the plight of sub-postmasters for years.

“But understandably, many of the victims have no confidence in the system and have suffered years of hell at the hands of the Post Office.

“So in lieu of a sub-postmaster coming forward, I will take up the mantle. I’m standing as a resident – not a politician – to put honesty and integrity back into this election, and fight tirelessly for justice once and for all for my former colleagues.”

The Post Office prosecuted more than 700 workers for fraud and false accounting based on data from its faulty Fujitsu computer system between 2000 and 2015.

Only 93 of the convictions have so far been quashed.

Rishi Sunak last week described it as “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history”.

Paula Vennells, the former Post Office boss, has handed back her CBE after a petition demanding she surrender the honour exceeded 1.2 million signatures.