This morning, former Ludlow MP Matthew Green has announced that he will be replacing Chris Naylor as the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the new constituency of South Shropshire at the forthcoming general election. We were all saddened when Chris had to stand down as the Lib Dem candidate. He was working flat out meeting people and engaging in local campaigns when he had to halt due to medical advice. He’d had been a great MP.
Matthew Green now steps into his shoes and has the experience to win the seat. The Conservatives have chosen a lacklustre candidate in Stuart Anderson. He is a Philip Dunne light and is rarely seen about and about without Dunne to guide him. He has not spoken in the House of Commons since May 2022.
The door is open for the Lib Dems to retake the South Shropshire seat. It is time we did so.
Below, I publish statements from Matthew Green and Chris Naylor published on social media this morning.
Statement from Matthew Green
This may not now come as a huge surprise but I can confirm I will be standing again for the Liberal Democrats in South Shropshire at the next General Election. The South Shropshire constituency is formed from Ludlow Constituency which I represented as the Member of Parliament between 2001 and 2005, with the addition of two wards which are currently in Shrewsbury and Atcham Constituency.
From conversations with local residents on doorsteps over the past couple of years, it has become clear that the overwhelming mood of the electorate is to see this shameful Conservative Government removed from office.
When Chris Naylor sadly had to, for health reasons, step back from being the LibDem candidate for South Shropshire, many people asked me to put myself forward. They did so because they believe I represent the best chance of ensuring that South Shropshire does not return a Tory MP, as I am the only person to have beaten the Tories in the Constituency in the past 100 years. Those residents know that the fewer Tory MPs that get elected, the lower the chance they will be the Government again. They also tell me they want a local MP who puts South Shropshire first and they know from my previous time as the local MP that is exactly what I would do.
I have listened to all those local residents, and I agree with them. As the imperative is to get rid of this embarrassing and dishonest Government, I’ve thrown my hat back into the ring.
Statement from Chris Naylor
Regrettably as many of you know I’ve recently had to step down from public duties due to health worries – with my consultant saying an emphatic “no”
But I’m delighted that former – and I very much believe, future, MP Matthew Green is stepping in. He knows lots more than me, he’ll do much better than me and with his strong local ties, I’m confident that he will do us all proud, so I will be handing this page over to him.
We’ve had some great chats on here and I do hope they’ll continue. The Lib Dem way is to discuss and listen and so – hopefully – do the best for us all.
I do hope you’ll continue following Matthew on here and feedback, challenge even, as appropriate.
I’ve been asked to feed in on environmental and housing issues, so I’m looking forward to maintaining some useful input. Fixing our rivers, helping our farmers, ensuring better housing for those at the bottom of the ladder – all matter hugely to me and I’ll continue to do all I can.
I’ll still be here in the heart of Shropshire – with Shropshire very much in my heart. I look forward to staying in touch. Thank you again for your incredible levels of interest and support.
This is good news and represents the best chance those opposed to this government have of winning this seat. When Matthew Green lost the seat in 2005, he increased his vote by some 2% but lost to a popular local Tory who had all the essentials of a typical Shire county MP at a time when the Conservatives were on the up (you know, Eton and Oxford PPE degree; local, or near enough, District Councillor for South Shropshire, pleasant manners, engaging smile). The margin then was about 2,500 votes, since when Philip Dunne has increased his vote election on election by being charming, thoughtful and helpful as a constituency MP although no-one yet knows (and now no-one ever will) what he actually thinks about anything, so consistent has his stance been alongside whatever the current position of the government was at the time.
Matthew was well thought of as our MP, but remember this is still considered to be one of the safest Tory seats in the country – still expected to draw 36.4% of the vote and remain one of 90 conservative seats in a Tory meltdown. Doubtless this is why the Conservative candidate who has a rather chequered background (look him up on Wikipedia) obviously decided to bail out of his existing constituency in Wolverhampton South West ( majority in 2019: 1,661) only to turn up three months later as the candidate for the newly – named Shropshire South seat.
If all those who would rather not have a Conservative MP next time round are prepared to lend their vote to Matthew, he will once again become our MP. I doubt any of the other candidates will be able to win, however much we might want our own colour to triumph. I so hope the people of South Shropshire vote tactically like the people of North Shropshire did a couple of years ago. The history suggests a labour candidate would lose; but this is our best chance to boot out a Tory chancer candidate and be part of putting this county and this country back on its feet. Let’s do it!
I hope he is in favour of PR and rejoining the EU.