A former postmistress has said she will run for election against Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.
Yvonne Tracey said she decided to run for the Kingston & Surbiton seat at the next general electionbecause of how Mr Davey behaved when he was Postal Affairs minister during the coalition government.
She said: "I never thought I’d stand for Parliament - but I could not stand back and let our current MP and former Postal Minister Ed Davey stand again unchallenged after how he treated former sub-postmasters, in what the public now know to be the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history.
"Hundreds - if not thousands - of sub-postmasters have had their lives destroyed by the Post Office. Their confidence is shot, and they just want justice. I’m standing to bring that justice that they deserve."
My name is Yvonne Tracey, former Deputy Postmistress of New Malden Post Office.
— Cllr Yvonne Tracey (@YvonneNewMalden) January 13, 2024
I'm standing on a 'Justice for Sub-Postmasters' ticket against Ed Davey at the next general election in Kingston and Surbiton.
Find out more and join the campaign at https://t.co/mLcYmpAiFO pic.twitter.com/zGAn1cNhEc
The former deputy postmistress at New Malden post office is already an independent councillor in the area.
Davey has welcomed Scotland Yard’s decision to look into potential offences in relation to the Post Office’s investigations and prosecutions and said while he was in office he and his civil servants were misled.
He told the Guardian: "We were reassured time and again that the Horizon system was working. We were told there weren’t that many postmasters affected. We were just told so many lies.
“We absolutely have to have these people completely exonerated – their convictions must be overturned. The Post Office lied to judges and the courts.”
The Post Office could be facing a £100 million bill and insolvency after claiming tax relief for its compensation payments to subpostmasters, according to a tax expert.
Dan Neidle, the head of non-profit organisation Tax Policy Associates, said the Post Office claimed £934million tax relief for its compensation payments, and suggested it could be “unlawful”.
The Horizon scandal saw more than 700 subpostmasters and subpostmistresses handed criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
