Telford council leader to stand for Labour in general election

Shaun Davies has been council leader at Telford and Wrekin Council for six years

The leader of Telford and Wrekin Council, Shaun Davies, will be Labour's candidate for the Telford seat at the next general election.

He became leader of the Labour-run authority in May 2016 and in June was chosen to lead the Labour group on the Local Government Association (LGA).

At the last general election, Lucy Allan increased the Conservatives' majority in the constituency to 10,941.

Mr Davies said standing was "one of the greatest honours of my life".

The task of winning, he added, was "huge".

"The current Conservative MP has an 11,000 majority - it's not going to be easy," he said.

"[But] somebody once said in my part of Telford 'nothing great is easy' and I'll work my socks off to try to convince as many people as possible that I'm the right person to represent them in parliament."

The latest the next general election can be held is January 2025.

Mr Davies said he would be a full-time MP and Telford would be his "absolute focus".

"My family live here, I'll continue to live here and pay my taxes here and rely on public services here as the local member of parliament," he said.