Shropshire Star

Former Telford MP David Wright to contest council seat

A former MP is returning to politics after a three-year break to fight a by-election for a council seat on home turf.

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David Wright is standing in a St George's and Priorslee Parish Council by-election

The Labour Party's David Wright lost his Telford parliamentary seat three years ago to current MP Lucy Allan.

It came following a swing to the Tories after Mr Wright had spent 14 years representing the constituency.

Now he is throwing his hat in the ring for the St George's and Priorslee Parish Council by-election next month.

He is campaigning for the St George's East Ward following the resignation of former area representative Simon Malpass in December.

Lucy Allan replaced Mr Wright as the MP for Telford in 2015

Mr Wright, 51, who lives in Telford, said: "I was a parish councillor many years go and I thoroughly enjoyed the role.

"When I came out of parliament three years ago I decided to take some time out from politics working in the charity sector.

"I enjoy working in the community and I would like to give back and contribute in the parish of St George's where I grew up and went to school. I have a strong affinity with the area.

"It was real privilege to be a Member of Parliament for 14 years and represent my home town.

"After the General Election in 2015 I decided to take some time to focus on my family.

"Now I've done that I think it is time for me to come back and make a contribution at grassroots level and if I'm elected this will give me an opportunity to do that. I will be the Labour candidate. I have been Labour all my life.

"This is very much a local issues election and I will be campaigning on the things affecting the community such as ongoing parking in and around the crossroads, the Gower Street building and youth services. St George's is a strong community that I've always loved."

Mr Wright, who has also been involved in the heritage and social enterprise industries, added: "Parliament is not on the agenda. I enjoyed my time there, but I want to focus on local issues. My family has always been very supportive of me and my career."

Voters in the ward will be going to the polls on March 15. Other candidates include MP Ms Allan's former assistant Rob Cadman for the Conservatives; independent Sharon Bradburn and Andrew Guy.

Ms Allan was elected as MP for Telford by a majority of 730 in 2015.

Writing on his Facebook page at the time Mr Wright said: "It has been both a privilege and an honour to represent my home town of Telford in Parliament for the last 14 years.

"I am proud of what we have achieved.

"I had hoped that our programme to build a fairer society, run for the many and not the few, would change the direction of our of our country. The voters rejected that and I respect that decision."

Since then Miss Allan retained her seat at last summer's general election with a narrow majority of 720 votes, defeating Labour’s Kuldip Sahota.