Constituency profile: Telford
Labour will be keen to avoid a hat-trick of defeats.
The constituency of Telford, which Jeremy Corbyn visited on Wednesday, is one of Labour’s top targets in the country.
The party narrowly missed out on victory at both the 2015 and 2017 elections, and will be keen to avoid a hat-trick of defeats.
Labour needs a swing of just 0.9% to take Telford this time.
The constituency ranks at number nine on a list of Conservative seats most vulnerable to Labour.
Lucy Allan has been the Tory MP for Telford since winning it from Labour in 2015 – but her majority in 2017 was just 720.
It is the type of seat Labour needs to win if it wants to stand any chance of forming the next government.
Telford is a two-horse race between the Conservatives and Labour, who won 49% and 47% of the vote respectively in 2017.
It is one of around 25 Tory-Labour battleground seats in the West Midlands – meaning the region could be crucial in determining the outcome of the election.
Telford is also in a part of the country where Brexit could prove particularly decisive in influencing the result.
The local authority area that includes the constituency – Telford & Wrekin – voted 63.2% Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.
Whichever party manages to make the more persuasive case over Brexit could be the one who ends up prevailing at the ballot box.
