Green Party hails historic North Herefordshire win

The Green Party overturned a Conservative majority of almost 25,000 to take North Herefordshire, a constituency which in its various forms, has belonged to the Tories since 1906.

At the general election in 2019, Ellie Chowns finished 4th, but she is now set to be the Midlands' first Green MP with a majority of almost 6,000.

She said she was completely humbled and would "work her socks off" for her constituents.

The Green Party has had its most successful election night ever after winning four seats nationwide.

Ms Chowns thanked people for putting their trust in her, and for voting for "real hope and real change".

But she added the win was not a complete surprise "because I was one of the four key target constituencies for the Green Party".

Sir Bill Wiggin failed to be re-elected, having served as Conservative MP for North Herefordshire for 23 years.

He said the police had recently investigated a man following threats to kill him and the matter had restricted his canvassing.

"That wonderful sense of connection with the community and its values are under attack," he warned.

He said he hoped his successor would not suffer similar abuse.

Elsewhere in the county, Hereford and South Herefordshire was held by Conservative Jesse Norman, but with only a narrow majority over Labour.

He said it was now time to reconnect with the people of the county and listen to what they had been saying.

Mr Norman also congratulated Ellie Chowns on her win in the neighbouring North Herefordshire seat and said he wanted to work with her to "deliver on behalf of the county".

Across the border in Worcester, Labour's Tom Collins, who took the seat from the Conservatives, said his long list of priorities for the area included better buses and better access to doctors and dentists.

He said there were also a "million opportunities" for Labour to do new things.

Tory candidate Marc Bayliss, who came second, said he was pleased his party "had kept Labour's majority down to the same sort of ballpark that it's always been in Worcester".

He said: "It remains a swing constituency... my party and hopefully myself will hopefully be back at the next election."

West Worcestershire was held by the Conservatives, with the Liberal Democrats second, and Labour third.

Harriett Baldwin had been the area's Tory MP since 2010, but saw a significant drop in votes.

She said it was "a great honour and privilege" to be re-elected, and would "fight to make West Worcestershire an even better place to live, work and raise a family".

Bromsgrove was another Worcestershire constituency the Conservatives kept, with about 3,000 votes more than Labour.

Bradley Thomas, the new Conservative MP there, said he "presented a positive vision for the people of Bromsgrove" which included "Conservative values".

He said he would now look to be involved in rebuilding the party following its defeat nationally.

Bromsgrove was one-time chancellor and health secretary Sajid Javid's former constituency.

In Redditch, Labour took the seat from the Conservatives, but with a slim majority.

Chris Bloore said he was delighted with the result, as his party had come from being an "awfully long way behind" locally.

He said he was "completely honoured" to be trusted by people with whom he had grown up and worked to represent them in Parliament.

He added a lot of locals had been "eager for things to change".

Droitwich and Evesham was held by the Conservatives, with Nigel Huddleston securing a near 9,000 vote advantage over Labour.

But he said the win was "a bittersweet moment" because of results elsewhere in the country.

"Many good friends of mine have lost their seat," he said.

Mr Huddleston said he wanted to be a voice for the area from the opposition benches.

Wyre Forest was also a seat the Conservatives managed to retain, with Mark Garnier securing about 800 more votes than Labour, with Reform UK coming third.

"I do get that people are very frustrated with what has happened over the last five years," said Mr Garnier.

"Given the fact I've been elected under those circumstances doubles my resolve to show that Wyre Forest has made the right decisions."

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