THE Green Party’s Ellie Chowns has put her shock general election victory in North Herefordshire down to sustained teamwork.
Beaten Tory Sir Bill Wiggin - who lost by nearly 6,000 votes – disturbingly revealed afterwards that a man had been prosecuted for making threats to kill him while he was an MP.
The new MP, whose constituency includes Brampton Abbots, Upton Bishop, and Phocle Green just north of Ross, alongside King’s Caple, Foy and Fownhope, said: “I have had an extraordinary team of volunteers working hard for every vote and knocking on thousands of over the last year.
“The way to counter the polarisation in politics is to have those one-to-one conversations.”
She said the economy and cost of living, the NHS and public services, and the need to restore rivers were the key doorstep issues in the campaign.
“People want someone who will push the new government to be bolder and braver on these,” she said.
“Hopefully as a group of Green MPs we can have larger influence. I will now throw myself into that 100 per cent.”
Dr Chowns took 21,736 votes, well ahead of the Conservative candidadte on 15,842.
Sir Bill, who lives in Upton Bishop, revealed after losing his seat that the job of MP had become more dangerous in his time.
“After the murder of Sir David Amess, everything changed for the worse,” he said. “It was no longer safe for me to carry out my job in the way I used to.
“The police have prosecuted a man I have never met, but who wanted to kill me recently, and he pleaded guilty
“The wonderful sense of connection with the community and its values are under attack from such people,” he said.
“I urge you to understand this, especially for the safety of our new MP, who must be free to speak up for us and not be bullied or threatened.”
He was glad to have had the opportunity “to help people who through no fault of their own have simply fallen through the cracks, who found they badly needed my assistance to move on with their lives”.
“People have come out and thanked me every day of this campaign,” he said.