North Herefordshire Constituency Labour Party has carefully considered the option of standing a candidate in this bye-election, given the importance of local issues to West Bromyard residents. We recognise the lack of action by the Council on a range of issues and frustratingly slow progress in improving how the council does things despite the change to a new coalition administration at the last election nearly 3 years ago.

However, we have decided not to stand a candidate in this election, to focus our efforts on the main council elections coming in 2023 where all seats will be contested. For these we will be looking for local candidates to stand for Labour and to campaign on the range of topics vital to our lives in Herefordshire. These include our environment and the scandal of river pollution, the shocking state of our social care services both for adults and children, the need for proper road and transport policies for rural areas and a sustainable future. We are also pushing the community safety partnership on action to tackle violence against women and girls in the county which is a huge concern aggravated for many by rural isolation.