Kirsten Johnson, the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for North Devon who spectacularly imploded (listen here) during a pre-recorded interview for Radio 4, by accidentally letting slip what most Lib Dems think. Turns out claiming your potential constituency voted leave because “it’s 98% white” and “they don’t travel a lot” isn’t a winning strategy…

“It is with the deepest regret that I resign as the Parliamentary Candidate for North Devon Liberal Democrats with immediate effect.

I am acutely aware that my comments in the recent Radio 4 interview caused offence, and I reiterate my sincere apologies. Whilst I have had many very good interviews, on this occasion I totally lost the thread of what I was saying, which was interpreted in ways that I certainly did not intend or believe about the people of North Devon.”

Read her full statement here…

Speaking on The World This Weekend the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for North Devon, Kirsten Johnson, claimed that her prospective constituency voted to Leave because “it’s 98% white, we don’t have a lot of ethnic minorities living in North Devon, people aren’t exposed to people from other countries, they don’t travel a lot.”

Johnson went on to claim that that North Devon hasn’t “appreciated the advantages” of being in the EU because it is “isolated, rural, and low income.” She went on to imply that leave voters were linked to hate crime, but when asked to explain her view just “trailed off” in the words of the BBC’s Ross Hawkins. It makes for excruciating listening…

North Devon was held by the Lib Dems for over two decades, finally being lost to the Tories in 2015. It voted Leave by almost 60%. Doesn’t look like the Lib Dems are going to win it back any time soon…