All major political parties have made big promises around general practice; the Conservatives have pledged an extra 6,000 GPs and 50m more GP appointments, Labour have said they’ll create 5,000 GP training posts and invest in premises, and the Liberal Democrats have promised to end the GP shortfall within five years.
A recent GPonline opinion poll of 494 GPs revealed that the proportion of GPs planning to vote Conservative or Labour has slumped compared with the last general election, while support for the Liberal Democrats has spiked - with nearly a third (31.4%) backing the pro-remain party.
The Tories have the largest number of GP candidates (8) and have three members up for re-election, including staunch Eurosceptic Dr Liam Fox, a former GP who famously said a post-Brexit free trade deal with the EU should ‘be the easiest in human history’.
Dr Julian Lewis and Dr Andrew Murrison are the two other Tory hopefuls looking to keep hold of their seats. Meanwhile, two Liberal Democrats, Dr Sarah Wollaston and Dr Phillip Lee, who both defected from the Tories earlier this year, look set for an uphill battle to retain their seats in their constituencies.
Dr Paul Williams is the only sitting GP Labour candidate, while the Green Party has four candidates up for election this time round who are GPs or former GPs.
