As we look forward to 2024, many voters eagerly await the chance to finally send this Tory government packing. The Prime Minister recently acknowledged that next year will be an election year, and Labour is ready to take the fight to the Conservatives in every seat in the country, including in the newly re-drawn and re-named North West Essex constituency. 

“For too long, the Conservatives have taken their voters in Saffron Walden for granted – their ministers have taken planning powers from the local authority, and used them recklessly to approve developments that ignore local realities”, said Cherry Parker, a Labour local activist, “Labour’s recent comprehensive response to the local plan shows that are more in touch with what local voters are thinking than Kemi Badenoch”.

Labour highlights that the most recent forecast by Electoral Calculus shows the party in a strong second place under the new boundaries. Voters who are fed up with the Tories should know that there is everything to play for in this seat, and that this could continue to narrow to a close contest as voters coalesce around a clear change candidate. 

Cherry warned absentee, Wimbledon-based, MP Kemi Badenoch that she “cannot afford to spend all her time talking to hard-right pressure groups or climbing the greasy pole at Westminster”, as “Labour are going to make sure she’s got competition for every vote in this constituency. She won’t know what’s hit her!”.

Cherry promised that “in 2024 Labour will be working around the clock to earn the trust of every voter in North West Essex, whether they are long-time progressive voters, or former Conservative voters feeling abandoned by a wayward Tory Party that has lost sight of decency and common sense ”.

With another by-election just announced in Wellingborough, Labour will have another chance to prove it has the broad support necessary to beat sitting MPs even in the Conservatives’ former heartlands. In 2024, there will be no safe Conservative seats – giving voters in North West Essex an historic opportunity to influence who represents them at Westminster. 

“Kemi Badenoch might even need to buy a season ticket to Audley End next year” Cherry observed, “and maybe she’ll start to understand a bit more about what her constituents are suffering through under her government’s watch”.  

The local and national Labour party has been working hard to get its selection process underway, ensuring the best possible choice to represent the people of Saffron Walden and North West Essex. Labour’s selection will take place early in the new year.

1. Electoral Calculus (Accessed 19 December 2023): https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/calcwork23.py?seat=Essex%20North%20West&postcode=CM1%204QW