Sarah Dyke Lib Dems MP visited her neighbouring constituency recently to visit Warminster Senior School. Sarah herself attended Warminster School & is now part of the Verlucian Community, which was set up many years ago to allow former pupils to keep in touch. Sarah gave insightful talks to year 7 and 8 pupils and took part in the Sixth Form Politics lessons.

While giving pupils insight into the world of politics she was expressly clear on her shock, bewilderment and gratefulness for her success at the bi-election in July 2023. “I was utterly amazed” Sarah stated, “and it made my purpose to serve the community all the more prominent to me”. She recounted how her one vote majority onto the local district council was what kickstarted her political career and that crucial vote would forever “stay with” her.

Indeed, this is why when asked about her priorities as an MP balancing the constituency’s needs and the party’s wants, she was resolute and firm in her belief that the “constituency comes first”, because “without them I would be nothing”. This, she expressed, as all the more reason for the community to be furious with the conservative government for their “unwillingness to listen” and their refusal to “speak the language” of the constituents she is trying so hard to learn and gain fluency in. “We must translate the communities needs into policy and that cannot happen if we, as political figures, do not listen” Dyke explained.

Her devotion to the community extended when asked about her advice to politically ambitious Sixth Form pupils. She was adamant a political figure must first “experience life” and “become part of the community before they serve it”. Her long family history in Somerton and Frome and the deep heritage in all parts of the constituency that made her feel so “indebted to give back” to the land she lives on herself, making it clear that community, community, community is the focus of her mandate, something that politicians often let slip making her all the more an asset to politics.