THE winner of the Somerton and Frome by-election, Sarah Dyke, has been sworn in as an MP.

Ms Dyke recorded a 28 per cent swing for the Conservatives with a majority of over 10,000.

On her first day in Parliament yesterday (Monday, September 4), she demanded a meeting with the Health Secretary amid a crisis in GP appointment shortages and an ambulance waiting times crisis.

She has already held a town and village tour of the constituency over the summer and held virtual surgeries since winning the by-election. She said it follows an absent Conservative MP, David Warburton, who failed to meet with constituents or to visit Westminster before resigning.

Ms Dyke said: "I will be an MP for everyone in Somerton and Frome. Regardless of how you voted in the election, my door will always be open to all.

“I heard loud and clear from communities across the constituency that people felt badly let down by an absent MP and out-of-touch Conservative party taking them for granted.

“I promise to be a different kind of local politician, who will fight for better NHS services, a fair deal for our farmers and more help with the cost of living crisis.

“It is time the Government understood the dire situation of rural health services in this country.

"Towns and villages are left with GP surgeries unable to offer appointments and ambulance waiting times reaching dangerous levels.

"The Health Secretary needs to hear for himself how overstretched and under resourced health services in Somerset have become.”

LibDem leader Sir Ed Davey MP said: “The Somerton and Frome by-election should have acted as a wake up call for Rishi Sunak and his out-of-touch party.

"Instead we are seeing the same old Conservative chaos and taking communities for granted.

“Across the country the Conservatives have let local NHS services become overstretched, rivers polluted with sewage and too many families left with eye-watering bills to pay.

“Sarah has hit the ground running and already achieved far more than the previous absent Conservative MP.

"On every visit to Somerton and Frome I heard real anger at how communities had been let down and taken for granted.

"With Sarah as their hardworking local MP, that is going to change.”