To take on the MP with the largest increased majority of any in the country, the Richmond Park Liberal Democrats have selected a candidate who has only been a party member since last summer.

Elected by members at a hustings on Friday, July 22, 39-year-old Sarah Olney is due to contest Zac Goldsmith’s Richmond Park and north Kingston seat – held by the Lib Dems between 1997 and 2010 – in the next general election, scheduled for 2020.

Mr Goldsmith won the seat last May with a majority of 23,015, up from 4,091 in 2010.

Having watched from her sofa the dismal 2015 result for the Liberal Democrats, in which the party lost all but eight of its 57 seats, Mrs Olney decided to join approximately 17,000 others in signing up.

She said: “I was one of those people watching the devastating result last summer at home.

“I felt I had to get up and do something about it, so I joined.

“I haven’t been active for very long, but I’m going to give it my all.”

But, as a north Kingston resident, she argued Mr Goldsmith has let down his constituents on a number of counts, from his support for Brexit to his ‘divisive’ mayoral campaign and the upcoming Heathrow expansion decision.

She said the biggest issue she has with Mr Goldsmith is his failure to pressure the government into making a decision on the proposed third Heathrow runway, which she claims was delayed to give him a smooth ride through his mayoral campaign.

Mrs Olney, who works as an accountant for the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, said: “Discussions have been going on for a long time – it’s time there was a decision.

“It’s really because he (David Cameron) wanted to give Zac a boost in becoming mayor.

“Zac should have been pushing for a decision as soon as possible.

“It’s created massive uncertainty and insecurity; people can’t make decisions for the future.”

Mrs Olney said, were she to be elected, she would not join the cabal of established politicians who she claims are more interested in ‘game-playing’ than pushing for change.

She said: “In politics at the moment there is a lot of game-playing.

“There is an urgent need for a decision on things like Heathrow, the NHS and climate change. They are not getting enough attention.

“Post-referendum the position nationally is uncertain and unstable.

“We need people with an appetite to get involved and push changes through; not people involved in game-playing.”

Constituents can certainly prepare to see a lot more of Mrs Olney very soon; the Liberal Democrats have pledged she will spend the coming months at local meetings, door knocking, leafleting and street stalls.