Wrekin general election guide 2017 - Pritchard is in pole position say bookies

Up until he took the seat, The Wrekin had been a Labour stronghold since 1987. But now the seat is true blue, and Mr Pritchard’s hold looks unshakable.

In the 2015 election, the Conservative incumbent won his third election in a row by a majority of 10,743 with 22,579 votes – an increase of nearly 1,000 on 2010.

He fought off challenges from Cath Edwards for the Green Party, with 1,443 votes, Katrina Gilman for Labour with 11,836 votes, Rod Keyes of the Liberal Democrats with 1,959 votes and Ukip’s Jill Seymour with 7,620 votes.

And he will be hoping to hold on to that huge majority this year. The odds certainly look in his favour.

Bookies from Paddy Power have set the odds on a Conservative win at 1/200, meaning they at least see Mr Pritchard retaining The Wrekin as, almost, a dead cert.

What may prove a challenge for Mr Pritchard was his pro-remain stance ahead of the EU Referendum in 2015.

He, along with Philip Dunne the Ludlow MP, were the only two county MPs who were against Britain’s exit from the EU.

But in both Shropshire and Telford, the public voted overwhelmingly to leave.

Since the vote Mr Pritchard – known for his Eurosceptic views prior to the referendum campaign – has vowed to fight for the rights of businesses outside of the single market.

Labour’s first time candidate Dylan Harrison from Newport is standing, much like his parallel Kuldip Sahota in Telford, with a clear focus on the hospitals being his top issue, hoping that voter dissatisfaction with the ongoing uncertainty about what the future holds will stand him in good stead.

But the odds aren’t in his favour, standing at 25/1 with bookmakers.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat returnee Rod Keyes has odds of 40/1, while Ukip is placed at 150/1 and the Green Party brings up the rear at 500/1.

This year it looks likely to be the only constituency fielding an independent candidate, with Fay Easton, a Wellington entrepreneur, hoping that those dissatisfied with party politics may look to her for an alternative.

The Wrekin was red from 1987 until 2005, with first Bruce Grocott, then Peter Bradley winning the seat for Labour after Telford became a separate constituency.

Enter Mark Pritchard. A former director of a marketing communications company, Mr Pritchard recaptured The Wrekin for the Conservatives in 2005, winning by 942 votes from Mr Bradley.

In 2010, that majority was 10 times wider with Labour candidate Paul Kalinauckas 9,450 votes behind his Conservative rival.Despite The Wrekin constantly veering between the two main parties over the course of the last 90 years, the odds remain against Labour going into this election.

Since the end of the Second World War, The Wrekin has been represented by nine different MPs – compared to four who have held Shrewsbury in the same period.

Though traditionally a volatile seat, at the moment at least, it seems unlikely that will be the case this time.

In 2015, Mr Pritchard was the first MP in the constituency to complete a hat-trick of Wrekin victories since fellow Conservative Bill Yates held the seat three times in the 1950s and 60s.

And he will further that record this time around.

What does pose a problem is the mixed make-up of the constituency.

Though Telford has its own constituency, the boundary doesn’t match the borough’s footprint, with Wellington, Hadley and Donnington all part of the Wrekin

That means that more than any other patch in Shropshire, The Wrekin is left to tackle a mixture of rural and urban issues.Mr Pritchard, originally from Herefordshire, has had a home in the constituency since his selection in 2002.

Meet the candidates

Mark Pritchard – Conservative

Mark Pritchard landed the Wrekin for the Conservatives in 2005, and has held it ever since. A former director of a marketing communications company who grew up principally in Herefordshire.

One of Shropshire’s two Remain campaigners in 2016, he has now spoken in Parliament about getting a fair trade deal for local businesses outside the EU as well as being vocal about the ongoing hospitals debate.

He has also campaigned on pro-life and animal rights issues.

Dylan Harrison – Labour

The Newport resident currently works for Stoke City Council in child protection as a team manager.

He is married to Joanna who is a lecturer in public health at Wolverhampton University.

They have three children, Elizabeth, Nicholas and Maxim.

Mr Harrison moved to Telford 17 years ago to work as manager of the Sure Start programme in Lawley and Overdale. He says he has spent many years campaigning for better health provision in Telford and has been on Telford’s CCG board.

Rod Keyes – Liberal Democrat

Mr Keyes says he grew up in a West Bromwich tenement, before moving away to Sheffield to study.

Since then he has settled in North Shropshire, and has spent the last 36 years working in the insurance industry.

Like his counterpart in Telford, not much has yet been revealed by Mr Keyes but the 2017 election will be the second time he has contested The Wrekin constituency.

Pat McCarthy – Green Party

Wellington Town Councillor Pat McCarthy is standing for the Green Party in The Wrekin.

For some time Pat has been involved in the fight to defend the county’s NHS services from cuts and downgrading, particularly at the Princess Royal Hospital.

He has said he is looking forward to challenging the Government on the future of the health service.

Denis Allen – Ukip

Denis Allen will stand for Ukip and has previously contested the Telford seat. He was posted to the staff of the RAF Junior Command and Staff School at RAF Tern Hill in 1969. Mr Allen has lived in the county since then, and entered politics as a Conservative councillor in North Shropshire in 1978.

He is no stranger to contesting general elections, having stood on behalf of the Referendum Party in North Shropshire in 1997 – winning 3.4 per cent of the vote – then for Ukip in 2010, when he scooped 5.9 per cent.

He was expelled from the Conservative Party in 2008 – he cites “trumped up charges” relating to his opposition to membership of the EU – and was Ukip’s county chairman between 2010 and 2014.

Fay Easton – Independent

This year, The Wrekin also has an independent candidate, local entrepreneur Fay Easton.

Fay launched a crowd funding appeal in a bid to stand for the seat and says she will not be swayed by political parties in standing up for her constituency.

Profile: Area with oldest population

The Wrekin is a horseshoe-shaped constituency, which takes in parts of northern Telford and surrounding towns.

It lost its main urban centre in 1997, when the majority of Telford became a separate constituency.

Its main urban spots are Wellington, Donnington and Hadley, but it also takes in Shifnal, Newport and Albrighton

The only woman to have represented a Shropshire constituency, until Lucy Allan took hold of Telford in 2015 was Edith Picton-Turbervill who sat from 1929 until 1931, at a time when women were just starting to make a breakthrough into public life, but lost her seat in 1931.

The seat has consistently swung between Labour and the Conservatives over the last century, but returned Mark Pritchard with a solid majority last time out.

He is now the first Conservative to have held a seat for three successive terms.

The seat is home to a higher proportion of older people than other parts of the country.

The Wrekin is arguably one of the most mixed constituencies, because of its urban/rural breakdown.

In The Wrekin, 20.6 per cent of the population is over 65, compared with 16.4 per cent nationally.

About 66 per cent of the population regards itself as Christian – more than the 59.5 per cent elsewhere in the country.

Since the end of the Second World War, The Wrekin has been represented by nine different MPs – compared to four who have held Shrewsbury in the same period.

Mr Pritchard has achieved the strongest majority in the history of the seat.

Previous results:

2015: MARK PRITCHARD (CON) - 22,579 Katrina Gilman (Lab) - 11,836 Jill Seymour (Ukip) - 7,620 Rod Keyes (Lib Dem) - 1,959 Cath Edwards (Green) - 1,443 CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY - 10,743

2010: MARK PRITCHARD (CON) - 21,922 Paul Kalinauckas (Lab) - 12,472 Alyson Cameron-Daw (Lib Dem) - 8,019 Malcolm Hurst (Ukip) - 2,050 Susan Harwood (BNP) - 1,505 CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY - 9,450

2005: MARK PRITCHARD (CON) - 18,899 Peter Bradley (Lab) - 17,957 Bill Tomlinson (Lib Dem) - 6,608 Bruce Lawson (Ukip) - 1,590 CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY - 942

2001: PETER BRADLEY (LAB) - 19,532 Jacob Rees-Mogg - 15,945 Ian Jenkins (Lib Dem) - 4,738 Denis Brookes (Ukip) - 1,275 LABOUR MAJORITY - 3,587