About

About Us

The founders of the Melksham & Devizes Primary are tired of tribalism in the centre and left of politics.
‍They have each campaigned and voted for Labour, Lib Dem and Green in the past, according to which one had the greatest chance of victory. If you live in our constituency and would like to see the tories out, please sign up to support us and take part in this unique tactical voting execise on 4th July.

CONTACT US if you would like to be involved in any way - we are looking for feet on the ground to hand out leaflets and run our occasional 'Democracy Meter' at various locations around the constituency - hello@melkshamdevizesprimary.org

AnNe GRAHAM

An auditor and accountant focused on governance, I now work on a freelance basis in the public and private sectors. I have also worked at Wiltshire Citizens Advice Bureau.

My experience means that I understand how our government and public bodies, like the NHS and local councils, should be run and how they should be accountable to us, the taxpayers.
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Like the majority of people in this area, I have sympathies with the centre and centre-left parties. I believe that most people are now desperate for change but are unsure how or if this can be achieved. This Primary idea is a great idea to make tactical voting public and to drive that change from the bottom up, using real people power.

Mike White

I worked with young people in a variety of settings for over forty years, both abroad and back home in England. In the eighties I served for six years as one of Calne’s Liberal Democrat District Councillors in Conservative NorthWiltshire, subsequently chairing a community project in the town. I ceased being a party member and have been non-aligned for twenty years, albeit with Green sympathies.

I decided to help organise our local Primary initiative because of the depths to which political discourse in the UK has sunk, my concern about the climate emergency, what it augurs for life on our planet, and the affect that crisis will have on the life of my granddaughter.

Claire Gwilliam

I decided in 2021 to sell my business in Surrey and move to Wiltshire to start a new adventure. I now work three part-time jobs and am studying a degree in Integrated Wildlife Conservation. I have always been torn when voting as I have never stood singularly with one party’s agenda. However, I am sick of the conservatives screwing up the country’s economy, lying about everything and (potentially unlawfully) backtracking on critical pledges. What we really need now are people who care about the environment in politics.

Thus began my journey into politics to make a change for the better. Melksham and Devizes Primary gives people the power to stop the Conservatives taking control again.‍