Shropshire Star

I visited a Telford high street to talk to voters ahead of the General Election and this is what they had to say

Uncertainty was the only sure thing on the streets of Telford on Monday, as we asked residents which way they'd be voting.

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Lesley Slater

For the first 18 years of the constituency's existence, Telford was painted solidly red.

But in 2015, a very narrow victory saw Telford become an emblem for the Tories' post-Blair renaissance under David Cameron when Lucy Allan unseated Labour's David Wright by just 730 votes.

An even tighter election in 2017 saw the Tory's barely hung on, with just 720 votes between Ms Allan and Labour's candidate, now Lord Kuldip Sahota.

But in the tumultuous 'Get Brexit Done' era, residents turned out to vote blue. In 2019, 10,941 votes separated Ms Allan and the labour candidate, Katrina Gilman.

At the same time as people were turning out to turn Telford conservative, voters were increasing Labour's majority in the local council.

Over the last decade, Labour have increased their control of Telford & Wrekin Council, gaining nine seats in 2019, and two more in 2023.

It's led to a few years of rancorous politics between the town's MP and the local authority - most notably over the future of Telford's A&E services.

Conservative hopes of hanging on at the upcoming election look to be waning - with Lucy Allan herself throwing her support behind Reform UK last month.

As of Monday, the polls are predicting Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Labour candidate Shaun Davies to win the seat, amid rumblings of a national landslide victory for the party.

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