Opportunities being denied to North Shropshire says Labour by-election candidate

Born in Oswestry, he went to Woodside Primary and Marches secondary schools in the town. His introduction to working life came working in the tile department of a hardware shop in the town. He answers almost every question with a reference to his local roots.

Mr Wood, a 26-year-old political adviser to the Labour Party, is seeking to replace another local man, long-serving Tory MP and former cabinet minister Owen Paterson, in what would be one of the greatest political upsets of the century.

Being the Labour candidate in North Shropshire is never easy task. At the last election, Mr Paterson had a majority of more than 22,000, meaning Mr Wood will need a swing of more than 20 per cent if he is to become the first Labour MP in the constituency’s 189-year history.

On the other hand, such upsets have been achieved before, and one doesn’t need to look too far away to find an example. Tony Blair’s resurgent Labour Party took the previously secure Tory seat of Dudley West with a swing of 29 per cent in a 1994 by-election, at a time when John Major’s scandal-hit Tories were floundering amid allegations of sleaze and division.

While Boris Johnson’s administration might not yet have reached those levels of unpopularity, the scandal which brought about the by-election – the censure of Mr Paterson for a breach of lobbying rules – has led to the Conservatives falling six points behind Labour in the polls.

Sitting governments rarely do well in by-elections, and Mr Wood may feel there will never be a better chance for Labour win the seat. It is also worth noting that while Mr Paterson secured a huge majority in 2019, it has not always been the case. When he first contested the seat, during the 1997 New Labour landslide, he was elected with a relatively modest majority of 2,195. Labour may well take the view that there is everything to play for.

“We’re the underdog in this race,” admits Mr Wood, as he chats to constituents in Market Drayton. “I don’t particularly mind that. I’m a local lad and all I’m asking is people give me a chance. It’s a two-horse race between Labour and the Tories, the only two parties that have ever been in contention here.”

His last point will be a bone of contention. His Liberal Democrat opponent has already declared it to be a two-horse race between the Lib-Dems and the Conservatives. The bookies have the Lib-Dems as second favourites to the Tories at 7/2, with Labour in third place at 10/1. And political nerds will point out that the only non-Tory to hold the seat was the Whig John Cotes, who came second when the constituency elected two MPs. That was in 1832, mind.

While a by-election caused by a lobbying scandal is the very last thing the Tories would have wanted, Mr Wood’s own selection as candidate has not been without controversy either. Veteran Labour campaigner Graeme Currie – who stood against Mr Paterson at the previous three general elections – reacted furiously after being told at the weekend he would not be considered.

Mr Currie, a Labour member for 41 years, launched a blistering attack on the party, accusing it of ‘Stalinist tactics’ and said it had ‘corruption in its soul’. He said he would be unable to campaign for Mr Wood in the by-election. Mr Wood will not be drawn on Mr Currie’s claims.

“It was a free and fair vote, I don’t know the ins and outs of it, but I was really pleased to be selected, and I’m just putting forward my policies for the constituency.”

Mr Wood’s first job was working at Colour Supplies homeware shop as a teenager, as he saved money to fund his studies at King’s College, London.

“I was working in the tile department, there was nothing glamorous about it,” he says. “I was just making up the displays, and working with the builders’ merchants. It made me believe in the value of hard work.”

Mr Wood says it was his experiences returning home to Oswestry from university which persuaded him to join the Labour Party at the age of 18.

“When I came home there wasn’t anybody sticking up for us,” he says.

After university, he briefly worked for the Missing Persons charity, before taking up posts with Labour MPs Neil Coyle and Chris Elmore. For the past couple of years he has worked as a policy adviser to the shadow cabinet.

But he says many people in North Shropshire are denied the opportunities afforded to him.

“I’m very lucky to be in the position I am, and that’s because of the area I come from,” he says.

“I’m proud to be from here, but we need new jobs in the town, we need high-skilled jobs. Muller is cutting jobs in Market Drayton, BT is cutting jobs in Oswestry.

“I want to change that by being a champion for the area, a voice for the area.

“There’s not a single high-street bank in Ellesmere, and I want to stand up and make a bit of noise about these things,” he says.

Mr Wood identifies the local health service as his top priority, specifically the closure of the community ambulance stations in Market Drayton and Oswestry.

Crime is another major issue, he adds, and pet thefts in particular.

“People are getting their dogs stolen, we need much harsher penalties,” says Mr Wood.

“You used to see community support officers around our towns, we need more police in the area.”

At 26, Mr Wood was just two years old when Mr Paterson was first elected to represent North Shropshire. And if he manages to upset the odds, and become North Shropshire’s first Labour MP, he will be one of the youngest members of the House of Commons.

“It means I bring something a bit different, it means I’m looking at the future, not the past,” he says.

“Being young doesn’t harm me. I appreciate I’m 26, but that can be seen as a positive.”