Terry Jermy

{{Short description|British politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Use British English|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name =

| honorific_suffix = MP

| image = Official portrait of Terry Jermy MP crop 2.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2024

| office = Member of Parliament
for South West Norfolk

| honorific_prefix =

| predecessor = Liz Truss

| term_start = 4 July 2024

| term_end =

| majority = 630 (1.4%)

| office1 = Member of Norfolk County Council
for Thetford West

| term_start1 = 1 August 2013

| term_end1 = 11 March 2025

| majority1 =

| predecessor1 = Peter Georgiou

| successor1 =

| birth_name = Terry James Jermy

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1985|8}}

| birth_place = Thetford, Norfolk, England

| party = Labour

| alma_mater =

}}

Terry James Jermy is a British politician and journalist who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the South West Norfolk constituency since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he defeated former Prime Minister Liz Truss, who had represented the constituency since 2010.{{cite news|first=Johnston |last=Kris |url=https://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/liz-truss-ousted-as-south-west-norfolk-mp-as-labour-candidat-9373400/ |title=Liz Truss ousted as South West Norfolk MP as Labour's Terry Jermy wins vote |work=Lynn News |date=5 July 2024 |access-date=5 July 2024 }}

Jermy was born in Thetford,{{cite web | title=About Terry | website=Terry Jermy | date=23 January 2024 | url=https://terryjermy.com/about-terry/ | access-date=5 July 2024}} and is a small business owner,{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Morgan |date=2024-02-29 |title=Meet Terry Jermy, Labour's pick to unseat Liz Truss as ex-PM returns to headlines |url=https://labourlist.org/2024/02/south-west-norfolk-liz-truss-mp-who-labour-candidate-general-election-terry-jermy/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=LabourList |language=en-GB}} owning the About Thetford magazine since 2013.{{Cite web |date=2023-03-08 |title=Meet The Team {{!}} About Thetford |url=https://aboutthetford.co.uk/about/meet-the-team/ |access-date=2024-07-13 |language=en-GB}} Before his election to Parliament, Jermy had been a local councillor for Thetford on Breckland District Council and Norfolk County Council.{{Cite news |last=Worden |first=Clare |title=Liz Truss: 'People surprised to see me on doorstep' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722y9vxvpxo |work=BBC News |date=18 June 2024 |access-date=2024-07-05 }}{{Cite news |last=Storey |first=Eleanor |title=Terry Jermy loses out on chairman role at Breckland Council |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/24352442.terry-jermy-loses-chairman-role-breckland-council/ |work=Eastern Daily Press |date=30 May 2024 |access-date= }} He also served as the Mayor of Thetford in the 2016/17 Mayoral year and was the first openly gay mayor of the town.{{Cite web |date=2018-09-14 |title=Exhibition in Thetford museum out of the closet |url=https://www.suffolknews.co.uk/bury-st-edmunds/news/exhibition-in-thetford-museum-out-of-the-closet-9044381/ |access-date=2024-07-13 |website=Suffolk News |language=en}}

He was selected as Labour candidate for the South West Norfolk constituency for the 2024 general election, though he received little support from the national Labour Party campaign and had to raise £15,000 for his local campaign via crowdfunding.{{cite news|first=Riley-Smith |last=Ben |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/02/the-unlikely-revolutionary-hoping-to-unseat-liz-truss/ |title=The unlikely revolutionary hoping to unseat Liz Truss |work=The Telegraph |date=2 July 2024 |access-date=4 July 2024 }} He was elected with just over a quarter of the votes cast (26.7%), which was the lowest winning vote share in the general election.{{Cite news |title=South West Norfolk - General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001497 |access-date=2024-08-17 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Kirk |first=Ashley |last2=Clark |first2=Alex |last3=García |first3=Carmen Aguilar |last4=Duncan |first4=Pamela |date=2024-07-26 |title=Twelve charts that show how Labour won by a landslide |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2024/jul/05/eleven-charts-that-show-how-labour-won-by-a-landslide |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} He defeated Truss, who had represented the constituency since 2010, overturning Truss's majority of 26,000. The Spectator labelled the result a "Portillo moment".{{cite news |last1=Steerpike |date=5 July 2024 |title=Watch: Liz Truss loses her seat |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/watch-liz-truss-loses-her-seat/ |access-date=5 July 2024 |work=The Spectator}}

Upon winning the seat and defeating Truss, Jermy became the first Labour MP from South West Norfolk since Albert Hilton, who lost the seat in the 1964 general election.