Walsall North MP Eddie Hughes to stand down at election

A third Conservative Black Country MP says he is to stand down at the next general election.

Eddie Hughes has represented Walsall North since 2017, but says proposed boundary changes are about to end the constituency as he knows it.

He said he felt a "tremendous sadness" over the decision, adding he had served the area with pride.

The Boundary Commission's final recommendations on changes are to be sent to Parliament by 1 July.

The commission says its aim is to make Parliament fairer by giving each constituency a roughly similar number of voters and, under the plans, the West Midlands region is set to go from 59 to 57 seats.

Walsall North was a Conservative gain from Labour in 2017, with Mr Hughes earning a majority of 2,601.

Walsall North contains the areas of Bloxwich and Willenhall but a new constituency called Walsall and Bloxwich is proposed, effectively abolishing Walsall North, with Mr Hughes saying his constituency "will simply no longer exist after July".

Mr Hughes, former minister for rough sleeping, said he had been "fighting" with the commission since 2021 to keep the existing constituency together, and initially it proposed Bloxwich and Brownhills as one seat, splitting Willenhall between two Wolverhampton constituencies.

His announcement to stand down follows those earlier this week of Stuart Anderson, MP for Wolverhampton South West, and Nicola Richards, who represents West Bromwich East.

Mr Hughes said: "In November last year, it felt as though the rug had been pulled out from under my feet as the commission proposed a new constituency of Walsall and Bloxwich which, in my view, divides our towns and threatens to rip apart the identities of our communities and has effectively abolished the constituency of Walsall North.

"This means that I am now considered to be displaced and I am unable to represent Walsall North at the next general election. I understand that this may come as a surprise to many of you but it's not a decision that I've taken lightly."

He went on to thank people for their support over the past six years and said a strong team of dedicated councillors had been built up locally.

"This is a fantastic area with brilliant people that I have represented with pride in Westminster and nothing will change until the general election," he said.

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