General Election 2024: Herefordshire Conservative candidates launch campaigns

Herefordshire’s two Conservative candidates have launched their campaigns for re-election.

Jesse Norman’s new campaign video on YouTube only mentions in the final frame that he is the Conservative candidate for Hereford and South Herefordshire.

Instead it highlights his role in getting funding for Skylon Park industrial area in Hereford, which he says has brough £60 million of investment and created 1,400 new jobs, as well as in setting up the city’s technical university NMITE and in the Stronger Hereford projects.

Meanwhile new railway station at Pontrilas in the southwest of the county is among projects Mr Norman said he is keen to bring forward, while “above all” the river Wye needs to be cleaned up, he says.

“Whatever your politics, I hope you will feel able to support me in all the things I’m trying to do for our county,” he concludes.

The word “Conservative” also barely appears on his campaign website, jesse4hereford.com.

Meanwhile Sir Bill Wiggin, who has less of an online presence, earlier launched his campaign for re-election in North Herefordshire in person at Leominster’s Rankin Club.

“The roads, the rivers, and the hospitals are the key issues to people this election,” he said.

“We’ve had great successes recently – £35 million to save the River Wye, £207 million for road resurfacing and transport infrastructure, and more beds, more doctors, and new wards for Hereford County hospital.”

He later said the Conservatives’ manifesto, launched on June 11, was “full of bold ideas that will deliver a secure future for you and your family”.

The two are technically no longer MPs since Parliament was dissolved on May 30.