Labour's Terry Jermy on toppling Liz Truss and making history

For Labour’s Terry Jermy it was the biggest moment by far of his near two-decade political career as he dethroned Liz Truss to become the new MP for South West Norfolk.

The 49-day prime minister had held the seat since 2010 but saw her 26,195 majority swept aside by the county councillor.

Terry Jermy, the new Labour MP for South West Norfolk (Image: PA)

The result was expected to be announced at 5.30am but ended up being delayed until almost 7am.

While the other eight candidates waited on the stage for the result to be announced, Ms Truss was nowhere to be seen, before finally emerging to slow hand-claps and a shout of “Has anyone got a lettuce?”

Mr Jermy won by 630 votes, shaking the hand of Ms Truss who congratulated him before making a swift exit without making a speech.

Liz Truss with the other South West Norfolk candidates as the result was announced (Image: PA)

“It was only about three weeks ago that I first thought winning was a possibility,” Mr Jermy said.

“I never felt it was likely, but I certainly thought over the past few weeks that it was a strong possibility, which was incredibly encouraging.

“I’ve been involved in politics for a long time and this campaign felt so positive. We always knew it was going to be close.”

LOCAL MAN

The 38-year-old, who has been a Thetford councillor since he was 22, said being local was “absolutely crucial” to his victory over the former prime minister.

“It came up time and time again on the doorstep,” he said.

“People wanted a local MP who they felt knew and understood the area. That had been a key criticism of the previous MP.

“The fact I’m born and raised in Thetford, the biggest market town in South West Norfolk, was an advantage.

“People know me and I had people who were prepared to vote for me in this election who had never voted for me in the past.”

Terry Jermy (Image: Owen Sennitt)

TOPPLING TRUSS

Mr Jermy said his grassroots approach to politics helped him to victory. 

“I’ve always believed in grassroots community campaigning and I don’t think Liz Truss adopted the same approach as our MP,” he said.

“There are issues that need addressing and people want an MP who they feel is on their side. I think that grassroots type of campaigning really resonated with people because it was a contrast of what they had been used to.

“The national situation certainly didn’t help her either.

Liz Truss made a swift exit (Image: PA)

“But I would say of far greater interest to people was her performance as our local MP. People were complaining that they didn’t see her and didn’t think she was accessible to them.

“That was by far the biggest criticism for her.

“I made a very conscious decision during the campaign to reply to every single email that I received – and I received 1,200 emails throughout the campaign.

“There felt like a growing momentum as things progressed.”

SYMPATHY FOR TRUSS

Mr Jermy thanked Ms Truss her service to the constituency in his acceptance speech and wished her well for the future.

"In politics it’s important that we are respectful to one another. She has served South West Norfolk for 14 years, we should acknowledge that.

"I made a point of shaking her after the result was announced and she did say congratulations. There was nothing more than that."

Liz Truss (Image: PA)

BECOMING AN MP

Mr Jermy has been campaigning for his local community since he was just 16, going on to become leader of the Labour group at Breckland council and a senior member of Norfolk County Council.

But it was the death of his father, who fell ill after being unable to get a GP appointment, that made him want to become an MP.

Terry Jermy with his dad, Terry, on the night he was sworn in as Thetford town mayor in 2016 (Image: Terry Jermy)

"People have tipped me to be an MP for a long while but I genuinely never had an aspiration to be an MP," he said.

"I’ve always been passionate about local government. Local government has a really exciting opportunity to make a difference in local communities and that’s what first attracted me to being a local councillor.

"Being a national MP will be entirely different I’m sure, but I will make a point of keeping my style of working and be active as I have been as a councillor.

"I will be continuing to live here as I want to be rooted in this community."