After a night that saw many of her colleagues lose their safe Tory seats, Harriett Baldwin said she was “very honoured” on being given the opportunity to serve again.
She made a point of thanking everyone who made the election safe and secure and who had worked hard until after 4am to deliver the poll results at University Arena, Worcester.
The reelected MP pledged to work with Labour representatives for the good of the county and said her key priorities for her next term in office was flood defences, education and ensuring her constituency got its fair share of funding for public services.
The dramatic decline of Tory fortunes was not met with surprise.“It’s been a difficult national campaign for my party and what we’ve been focusing on as a team in West Worcestershire is to get round to as many people as possible,” she said.
Asked if she had felt concern as election day approached Dame Harriett said: “I certainly felt I was getting a good response from my door knocking but of course there had been some polls showing Labour winning which didn’t tally with what I was seeing.”
She was philosophical on the significant drubbing the Conservatives received across the country. “We are longest running and most successful political party in the world and will obviously have to reflect on verdict from the electorate tonight, decide what the best way forward is but also a very important role as opposition to and hold the government to account.”
On the issue of how to wrest votes back from Reform she accepted there was some common ground. “We do accept that levels of immigration have been too high and that we need to bring down net migration. I am concerned that under a Labour government that may not happen.
“I think we also need to focus on moving towards lower taxes, obviously the pandemic very expensive and people have felt that in their pockets, as well as the spike in energy prices. So that has been very challenging from a taxation point of view.
“But we share common ground in that we believe in lower taxes but what struck me about the Reform is that they were basically pledging the equivalent of two Liz Truss budgets in terms of the amount of borrowing for tax cuts.”
Reform candidate Christopher Edmondon polled 7,902 votes equivalent to 14.4 per cent share.
The West Worcestershire vote was not tallied in the Malvern Hills District it was because there was no available venue on account of the summer election called at short notice.
Watch West Worcestershire’s election declaration and Dame Harriett’s thank you speech.
04.50am
This rounds up our live election coverage for tonight. Good night and sleep tight folks! It’s been quite an evening.
04.31am
When asked how she felt Harriett Baldwin said “tired” but wished to thank everyone who has helped make this election a peaceful one that has been secure and safe here in West Worcestershire.
Harriet Baldwin the newly elected MP for West Worcestershire. Picture Lise Evans
West Worcestershire General Election Results 2024:
Harriett Baldwin, Conservative – 19,783 ELECTED
Seonaid Barber, Party of Women – 363
Dan Boatright-Greene, Liberal Democrat – 13,236
Christopher Edmonson, Reform UK – 7,902
Kash Haroon, Labour – 8,335
Natalie McVey, Green – 5,068
04.20am
After a long wait the count is in and Harriet Baldwin has been reelected to serve as the MP for West Worcestershire.
Harriett Baldwin and her supporters after the count declaration.
04.07am
Dame Harriett Baldwin gives her acceptance speech after the vote is declared.
04.05am
Candidates huddle around the returing officer Charles Moyle, high sheriff of Worcestershire. Results are imminent…
Checking out the results before the declaration the West Worcestershire.
03.26am
Tension rises as the count is still now in…
A pensive Harriett Baldwin and team await for the poll to be declared.
02.12am
The West Worcestershire count at University Arena, Worcester.
The West Worcestershire election count.
02.00am
Natalie McVey is hopeful for the Greens. This is the fourth time she has stood for the party in a general election. She said: “We are looking to increase our share of the vote and get the best result ever in this constituency.” On the doorstep she said that there was a lot of concern about the loss of nature and biodiversity and frustration that the big issues were not given enough air time during the election debates.
Natalie McVey has stood for the Green Party three times before.
01.37am
Christopher Edmondson is hopeful about the results that have predicted that Reform will gain 13 seats. He said: “It’s a night for great optimism for the Reform Party going forward and much better than I expected at the moment.”
Reform candidate Christopher Edmondson overlooks the hall as the count begins.
01.08am
The voter turnout for the 2024 general election in West Worcestershire has just been announced. The electorate was 79,246, the votes cast, 54,878 which equates to a voter turnout of 69.25 per cent.
00.34am
As we wait for the turnout figure, we have just heard that there are just 800 more votes have been validated before the counting begins. So, here’s a few more facts to keep you going… The electorate at the 2019 election numbered 73,485. The valid vote count was 50,898 with a voter turnout of 69.3 per cent. Will general voter apathy be reflected in West Worcestershire?
View of the ballots being counted at University of Worcester Arena. Picture by Lise Evans
23.52pm
There are 79,000 electors and around 15,000 registered to vote by post in West Worcestershire. In the constituency there are 91 polling stations.
23.25pm
The West Worcestershire constituency covers the whole of the Malvern Hills District Council area and part of Wychavon District Council. The Boundary Commission recently reviewed parliamentary constituency boundaries and no changes were made.
22.47pm
The candidates standing for election are:
Harriett Baldwin (Conservative), Seonaid Barber (Party of Women), Dan Boatright-Greene (Liberal Democrat), Christopher Edmondson (Reform UK), Kash Haroon (Labour), Natalie McVey (Green).
10.11pm
The current poll methodology has been used in the last five general elections and has been as accurate to predict final results to within 10 seats. The worst of the five was still accurate enough to 30 seats.
It is based on 130 seats across the country and a poll of 200,000 people.
So what does the 2024 exit poll predict?
According to this exit poll, Labour would end up with a majority of 170 seats.
It suggests Labour would win 410 seats, the Conservatives would be second on 131, the Liberal Democrats on 61 and Reform UK would finish with 13.
Scottish National Party are predicted to win 10 seats, Plaid Cymru on four, the Greens on two and the remaining 19 seats spread across other parties.
The ballot boxes are making their way to the counts and we will be bringing you more when we get it.
Return to this live blog for local and national updates on today’s historic general election results.
Words and pictures by Lise Evans
