Worcester voters urge new Labour MP to bring change

Carol and Malcolm Pass said they felt well "looked after" by the Conservatives

Voters in Worcester say they hope the city's new Labour MP and new government will bring change and a pledge to "sort the issues out."

Labour won the seat for the first time since 2010, when Tom Collins beat Conservative Marc Bayliss by a majority of 7,116.

Speaking to the BBC after his win, Mr Collins thanked his family, who he said had made the "biggest sacrifice" during the campaign.

Worcester is historically considered a bellwether seat in general elections, with the outcome mirroring the overall national result.

Labour's Tom Collins is the new MP for Worcester

Mr Collins came despite Labour recording fewer votes in the city than 2019, with 18,622 compared to 19,098 five years ago.

Since 2010, the constituency was held by Conservative MP, Robin Walker, who had announced he would be standing down before this general election,

Conservative voter, Corinna Sampson, from Worcester, said she had voted for the party tactically, in an attempt to stop Labour from getting in.

“I’m just a bit disappointed with the result," she told the BBC. "It’s difficult because I don’t think any of them are really doing what we want at the moment, so it’s picking the best of a bad bunch.

“It was a tactical vote but it didn’t work, " she explained.

Carol and Malcolm Pass, from Stourport, in the Wyre Forest, both also voted for the Conservatives, but said they will give Labour the benefit of the doubt as the country needed to go in a new direction.

“We need a change of some sort, so I hope it’s going to be okay,” Mr Pass said.

Mrs Pass said she felt "very looked after" by the Conservative government who she said had helped with energy bills, pensions and NHS care.

"They made a lot of mistakes, so let’s hope they learn by the mistakes and get in next time," she added.

Corrina Sampson said she voted tactically to try and stop Labour

Elsewhere Amanda Wright, who is retired, also voted tactically, despite not being a natural Labour voter.

While waiting for the bank to open, she said her husband was a Labour canvasser and therefore she felt she had “been a widow the last six weeks" of the election campaign.

Ms Wright said she wanted Prime Minister Keir Starmer to be honest about the need for everyone to contribute more in taxes to help public services and the welfare state.

“I think everybody has to contribute, you know we can’t have people that are not contributing throughout their lives but are only taking,” she said.

Bus driver and single parent Kelly Atkinson is hoping the Labour government will help her with the cost of living as she is "struggling to plod along."

She didn't confirm who she had voted for, but said she wanted to see "more fairness" within the benefits and welfare system.

Her dad Adrian did not vote, but said he hoped the new government would “do a bit better than the last one”, as everything was “going downhill.”

Kelly Atkinson, left, is hoping a Labour government will help with the cost of living

NHS worker Lydia Munslow has been lifelong Labour voter, but the party did not get her support this time as she doesn't agree with "everything that Keir Starmer had put forwards".

She said she was glad Tories were out, but felt apprehensive about the future and was concerned over whether she would ever get on the housing ladder.

"I’m 34 and I’m still living at home as I can’t afford to move out, even own a flat because it’s that expensive on my wage,” she explained.

“I’m just hoping that [Sir Kier] does listen to the British people and actually sorts the issues out that we all want sorting out.”

The Reform UK party won four seats at the general election, on a night which saw them garner more than four million votes.

Lifelong Conservative voter and surveyor Stuart Evans, from Stourport, said he had voted for Reform.

He said he thought party leader Nigel Farage “understands exactly the way the world should run”.

Stuart Evans, from Stourport, voted for Reform UK for the first time