Decision day as Shropshire goes to the polls
It has been described as the most important General Election in a generation. And today Shropshire was at the heart of the battle for Downing Street as the UK went to the polls.
Labour must take Telford from the Conservatives if the party is to have any hope of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Britain’s next Prime Minister.
In Mid Wales, the Liberal Democrats were also hoping to make inroads in Montgomeryshire as they seek to recover from their collapse in 2015.
The party leaders completed their final day of campaigning with a furious tour of constituencies. Prime Minister Theresa May said the outcome of today’s vote will decide the future of almost every aspect of British life, with negotiations over the UK’s departure from the EU due to start in just 11 days time.
She urged voters to back her plan “for a successful Brexit and a brighter future”.
She said of Jeremy Corbyn: “A man with no plan and zero credibility would be flying blind into the most crucial negotiations the UK has faced in generations, while at the same time stitching together a ramshackle coalition at Westminster.”
Mr Corbyn has visited Telford twice during the campaign trail, culminating in a rally that brought more than 1,000 followers to Southwater on Tuesday. He hopes Telford’s Labour candidate Kuldip Sahota can overturn Conservative Lucy Allan’s majority of less than 800, knowing it is a seat his party must win if he is to triumph nationally.
Mr Corbyn said he was confident, adding: “I look forward to seeing Kuldip as an MP.”
Liberal Demoract leader Tim Farron visited Montgomeryshire as he sought votes to overturn a 5,000 Tory majority. Opinion polls narrowed further as the campaign entered its final hours, with some pollsters putting Labour within a point of the Conservatives ahead of polling booths opening this morning.
But the Tories have rubbished the polls. Chancellor Philip Hammond said they ‘were not worth the paper they are printed on’ while Conservative Party Chairman Patrick McLoughlin argued they would galvanise Tory supporters to get out and vote.
As well as Telford, the wider West Midlands has been one of the country’s key battlegrounds, with the Tories targeting at least five Labour seats.
