Malvern MP opts to fight to retain seat - The Malvern Observer

Malvern MP opts to fight to retain seat

Malvern Editorial 12th Nov, 2022   0

MALVERN’s MP Harriett Baldwin will re-apply for her job after she announced her intention to stand in the next General Election as the Conservative candidate.

The West Worcestershire MP was selected to stand for the seat by local Conservatives and will defend a majority of more than 24,000 votes at the next poll which is currently expected to take place late in 2024. She was first elected to the West Worcestershire seat in 2010 and increased her majority at every poll since.

“I have been a strong voice for all of the people of West Worcestershire, and I am continually humbled by the sheer volume of people who have turned out to support me,” she said.

National politics has been extremely fluid over the last decade but I have worked hard to press for the things that matter most for my constituents.




“I’m immensely proud that in my term as local MP we have built a new community hospital in Malvern, the new Worcestershire Parkway train station, the doubling of the Carrington Road bridge and six impressive flood protection schemes.

“There is however, still much more to do. We all want to see more investment and extra capacity at the main Worcestershire Royal Hospital, much better broadband, more reliable mobile phone signals and I’d like to see the flood defences completed for Tenbury Wells and Severn Stoke.


“And as we face up to some of the longer-term challenges as we address climate change I will keep pressing for less reliance on the combustion engine and make it much easier for us to use greener forms of transport and better active travel corridors.”

West Worcestershire Conservative Association chairman Ian Daly added: “Harriett has represented the people of West Worcestershire since 2010 and worked tirelessly to solve local issues and improve our community.

“I am delighted to announce that we have re-adopted her again as our Conservative parliamentary candidate at the next General Election and look forward to campaigning with her to win the continued approval of our constituency.”

When is the next general election due?

UK general elections – where all 650 MPs are elected to the House of Commons – have to be held no more than five years apart.

Unless an earlier one is called, the next election isn’t due until January 2025.

This represents five years from the day the current Parliament first met (17 December 2019), plus the time required for an election campaign.

Who can call an early election?

The decision to hold an early election rests with the Prime Minister.

If Rishi Sunak wants an early election he is obliged to ask the King to dissolve Parliament – the official term for closing Parliament in order to hold an election. Once an election is called, polling day would be expected to take place 25 working days later.

At the point of dissolution, MPs lose their status and campaign for re-election, assuming they choose to stand again.

Is there any way an early election could be forced?

A Prime Minister must have the ‘confidence’ of the House of Commons, which means they must be supported by a majority of MPs.

A motion of no confidence would see MPs from all parties decide whether they want the government to continue.

If Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer introduced such a motion, convention means the government should provide time for a debate and a vote.

In order to pass, the motion needs just one more MP voting in favour than against.

If the government loses the vote, a general election would normally be called.

It is also possible the King could invite somebody else to form a government – someone who could win a vote of confidence in the House of Commons.

However, for a no confidence motion to pass, Conservative MPs would need to vote down their own government – something many would be very unlikely to do. The Conservatives’ current working majority is 71.

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