The 2017 General Election battle has ignited the political fire for younger voters, Labour’s candidate for Lichfield and Burntwood has claimed.

The campaign trail in the area saw three of the four candidates debate key issues at a hustings event at South Staffordshire College.

Chris Worsey speaking at the hustings event
Chris Worsey speaking at the hustings event at South Staffordshire College

Labour’s Chris Worsey, who came second behind Conservative Michael Fabricant in the election, said the event showed his party’s leader had helped to engage younger voters.

“I’m under no illusion that the increase in the number of votes I won was down the the Corbyn factor, particularly among young people,” he said.

“It hit me during the college debate that the younger generation were fired up and felt they had a real stake in this election and they see politics as somewhere you can make a real difference.

“That’s a great trend and something that hopefully continues.”

Mr Fabricant has also welcomed the increase in younger voters, describing it as “good news for democracy in our area”.

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.