'Sobering night' for Conservative candidate despite Solihull West win

Sam Greenway

5 July 2024 at 1:57 am·2-min read

Conservative Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst who won Solihull West. — -Credit: (Image: Sam Greenway LDR)

The Conservatives hung on to the Solihull West and Shirley seat in one of the few highlights of a bruising night for the party nationally. Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst said it had been a “sobering night” for the Tories as he won the constituency by 4,620 votes ahead of second place Labour candidate Deirdre Fox.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the new MP said: “I’m delighted to have been elected, it’s a huge honour. At the same time it has been a very difficult night for my own party.

“The electorate has sent a very clear message. We need to reflect on that, we must not rush to judgement on it. It is chastening. A lot of good colleagues who worked extremely hard in parliament have lost their seats tonight.

"We need to move forward and regroup as a party.” Asked if there was anything he would have improved in the Tories national campaign Dr Shastri-Hurst added: “It is unwise to be making judgements so late in the night.

“There is a lot to look into, how we can do things better.” Respected pollster website Electoral Calculus had the Solihull West and Shirley seat as the Tories’ 69th safest on its national list.

In the 2019 general election the Tories won Solihull by 21,273 but it was a much closer result this time round in the new constituency created after boundary changes. At that 2019 election the Conservatives gained 32,309 votes but in this election the Tories managed just over half that - 16,284 votes.

The total number of votes cast in Solihull West and Shirley was 47,033, a 65.49 per cent turnout. Full result:

SOLIHULL WEST AND SHIRLEY

Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst - Conservative 16,284
Deirdre Fox - Labour 11,664
Ade Adeyemo - Liberal Democrats 7,916
Mary McKenna - Reform UK 7,149
Max McLoughlin - Green 3,270
Julian Knight - Independent 594

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