Sarah Olney
 Sarah Olney     | ||||||||||
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| Born | 1977 | |||||||||
| Alma mater | King's College London | |||||||||
| Spouse | Ben | |||||||||
| Party | Liberal Democrats | |||||||||
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Sarah Olney is the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Richmond Park who defeated the former Tory MP Zac Goldsmith in a by-election on 1 December 2016. Overturning his 23,015 majority, she took a fraction under 50% of the entire vote to record a majority of 1,872. Large numbers of local Labour voters backed her, with the Labour candidate, Christian Wolmar, losing his deposit.
Sarah Olney said that voters had:
- “sent a shockwave through this Conservative Brexit government.”
She added:
- “And our message is clear: we do not want a hard Brexit. We do not want to pull out of the single market. We will not let intolerance, division and fear win.”[1]
Candidature confirmed
Sarah Olney was confirmed on 30 October 2016 as the Lib Dem candidate in the 2016 Richmond Park by-election, four days after being interviewed on the BBC's Daily Politics programme.[2]
She said overturning Zac Goldsmith's 23,015 majority was "incredibly doable" for the Lib Dems, who held the south-west London seat from 1997 until 2010, and finished second in the 2015 General Election.
Although Zac Goldsmith has said he wanted the vote, on 1 December 2016, to be a referendum on the government's decision to back a third runway at Heathrow airport, Sarah Olney, who also opposes Heathrow expansion, told Sky News:
- Brexit - which Zac Goldsmith backed, unlike most Richmond voters - would "obviously" emerge as another campaign issue.[3]
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:Richmond Park prospective candidate: I would vote against Article 50 in Parliament | Statement | 4 November 2016 | Christian Wolmar | Statement by Labour Party prospective parliamentary candidate Christian Wolmar who aims to win the 2016 Richmond Park by-election |
