PERSHORE’S MP has said it is a ‘great honour and privilege’ to be re-elected to her Parliamentary role.
Harriett Baldwin, Conservative MP for West Worcestershire, retained her seat after securing more than 30,000 votes at the Parliamentary elections early last Friday morning (May 8).
Mrs Baldwin increased her majority to almost 23,000, with Richard Chamings from UKIP coming second, Labour’s Daniel Walton in third, Dennis Wharton of the Liberal Democrats in fourth and Green Party representative Julian Roskams in fifth.
But Mrs Baldwin admitted she ‘has her work cut out’ in making sure her previous efforts are continued.
“When I was elected as a candidate in 2006 we (Conservatives) were defending a majority of 2,500 in West Worcestershire and that has gone up ten times,” she said.
“It really is a great honour and a great privilege to be given this chance to represent such an amazing part of the world in Parliament once again.
“I think the track record in terms of jobs, the fact we have a record level in employment, the fact the UK is one of the fastest growing countries in the Western world, we need to keep building on that economic improvement.
“This is a ringing endorsement of the recovery we have seen in the economy and people are not yet confident and I hope will never be confident to trust Labour with the countries finances again.
“I am absolutely thrilled and delighted to be given the privilege once again of representing West Worcestershire in Parliament.”
Despite ending the poll a mammoth 23,000 votes behind the Conservatives, Labour candidate Daniel Walton said it was ‘incredible’ to notch up his party’s best result in the constituency since 1997.
“Considering the national picture we did incredibly well with one of the largest increases across the Midlands,” Mr Walton said.
“It showed locally we presented a great argument on the falling number of jobs and the falling wages people have encountered.
“We are now the party of the opposition across West Worcestershire and will hold the Tories to account.”
The Liberal Democrats saw the steepest drop in votes, dropping by more than 15,000, but candidate Dennis Wharton said they ran ‘a very good campaign’.
“We were very much focused on our messages nationally and locally,” he added. “We did the best with the budget we had, which was not very much.
“Nobody expected it to drop as much as it did, but if you look at constituency stats across the country, you have got it happening everywhere.”
Richard Chamings, UKIP candidate, added he was concerned with the national picture but was ‘delighted’ to take more than 7,500 votes, while Green Party candidate Julian Roskams said his group’s 5.2 per cent increase was a step in the right direction.
“I am absolutely delighted,” Mr Roskams added. “We increased our number by about five times, we saved our deposit which we had never done before and it is a much bigger share of the vote than we have ever done before.
“I think it is a really good solid platform in which to build.”
Harriett Baldwin (Conservative) = 30,342
Richard Chamings (UKIP) = 7,764
Daniel Walton (Labour) = 7,244
Dennis Wharton (Lib Dem) = 5,245
Julian Roskams (Green Party) = 3,505
