Hereford MP confirms he will re-stand

Hereford and South Herefordshire MP Jesse Norman intends to stand again for the seat in the General Election expected next year, despite having resigned his ministerial post yesterday.

“I will be standing next time round, and I feel just as excited and energised about my work as an MP and the potential for Herefordshire as when I was first elected in 2010,” Mr Norman wrote on Facebook.

He said he considered local constituency work “the absolute lifeblood of the job” of an MP.

“Whether it is new bursaries at NMITE, Stronger Towns Fund projects like the cycle track, electric buses and the new museum and art gallery, a new skate park and games area for Ross, or the campaign to build a new railway station in Pontrilas, there is a vast amount still to do,” he said.

As a minister at the Department for Transport until this week, the latest of several government posts he has held since 2016, he had “felt quite constrained by the rules of office in what I can say publicly about other aspects of public policy, notably in relation to the urgent need to clean up the Wye”.

“I am greatly looking forward to the freedom and fresh air to express my views on these and other issues,” he said.

Among a flurry of government reshuffling and resignations yesterday, former health secretary Steve Barclay MP replaced Therese Coffey as environment secretary.

Ms Coffey had earlier promised to take action on the ongoing issue of pollution in the river Wye following a meeting with local figures in Hereford in spring. But campaigners said she had not followed this up with promised action.

Meanwhile Labour, which claims it has a projected lead over Mr Norman in the constituency, tweeted: “#Yesse is furious that he was overlooked for a higher position, even after following #Tory lines.

“So, he’s finally focusing on #Hereford – lucky us!”