Labour’s General Election win in Lichfield has been “a very long time coming”, a senior local party figure said.
Dave Robertson wrestled the seat away from long-standing Conservative MP Sir Michael Fabricant.
It means the constituency will have a Labour for the first time since it was formed 27 years ago.
Prior to the party’s victory this week, Cllr Sue Woodward, leader of the Labour group at Lichfield District Council, had previously come closest to victory having lost by just 238 votes in 1997.
She said:
“This result has been a very long time coming – 27 years in fact since the constituency was first formed.
“The intervening years have often been very lean ones for Labour, but local members have continued to hold the faith and hold our nerve.
“This has paid off magnificently with Dave now having been elected as our MP building from last year’s successes in the local elections.”
Cllr Sue Woodward
Cllr Woodward has worked alongside the new Lichfield MP at Lichfield District Council where has has served as her deputy.
She said she was looking forward to see him mark an impact in Westminster.
“He has been a fantastic candidate and I know he will make a fantastic Member of Parliament, looking outwards and serving his electors – and the country – rather than looking inwards and for only partisan interests.
“He has motivated and inspired a huge team of volunteers who have gone the extra mile –hundreds of them – to reach across the whole constituency. No candidate, anywhere in the country, could have worked any harder.
“I am proud to be his friend and colleague and it’s a cause of great satisfaction to me that he’s achieved what few expected.
“But he knows, as do I too, that the hard work starts now.”
Cllr Sue Woodward
