Labour Party announces General Election candidate for South Shropshire

Simon Thomson is a former BBC journalist and now works for a national food charity, and will be hoping to secure votes in South Shropshire on July 4.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised many last Wednesday when he called a snap General Election.

Mr Thomson will be up against the Conservative Party's Stuart Anderson, Matthew Green of the Liberal Democrats, and Reform UK's Charles Shackerley-Bennett for the South Shropshire seat.

The constituency replaces Ludlow, which has been represented by long-serving Conservative MP Philip Dunne since 2005.

The Labour candidate Mr Thomson has lived in south-east London with his family for more than 20 years.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he said: "Honoured to be Labour's Parliamentary candidate for South Shropshire.

"The General Election on July 4 is a chance to change our country for the better, after 14 years of Tory chaos and decline."