Two first time female councillors contesting to be Labour's General Election candidate in Stourbridge

The deadline for candidates to put their name forward is midnight tonight (Thursday) and Wollaston and Stourbridge Town Councillor Cat Eccles and Cradley Heath and Old Hill Councillor Vicki Smith both have announced they have applied.

The successful candidate will take on the sitting Conservative MP Suzanne Webb who intends to defend her majority of 13,571.

The national Labour Party will draw up shortlist will then be drawn up and the constituency party will choose their candidate in around six weeks time.

Both Councillors Eccles and Smith are in their first term representing their wards, Councillor Eccles won her seat last year on Dudley Council and Councillor Smith has been on Sandwell Council since 2021.

Vicki Smith told the Express & Star the redrawing of the constituency's boundaries played a part in her decision to stand.

She said: "Now the constituency includes Netherton and Brierley Hill I think I have a real affinity with area. Generations of my family are from Netherton and I ran an events community interest company throughout Stourbridge and was urged by a lot of people to stand.

"I really believe Parliament needs a better representation of working class people to make politics work for normal people. I have a disabled child who I have shared caring for with my husband for over 20 years and believe more voices like mine need to be heard when decisions are made.

"Representing Cradley Heath and Old Hill Councillor at Sandwell Council and elsewhere I often am the only person with my kind of skills and experiences.

"I'm not privately educated or went to Oxbridge but there are enough of those already in Parliament."

She added: "Stourbridge should be a Labour seat and the current MP only concentrates on Stourbridge town centre and seems to forget Amblecote, Wollaston, Cradley, Lye and Quarry Bank which need a voice."

The 54-year-old married mother of four, who has already set up Vicki Smith for Stourbridge social media pages, was also inspired by Labour's Tamworth by-election victory last month.

She said: "You can really feel this country wants and needs change and I want to be part of helping Labour win the General Election.

Wollaston and Stourbridge Town Councillor Cat Eccles was a popular winner when she won her seat in 2022. The biggest cheer at the Crystal Centre election count was for her victory as she had stood multiple times before and missed out.

Announcing her candidacy on X, formerly Twitter, she said: "Proud to announce that I've applied to stand as the next Labour MP for Stourbridge.

"Stourbridge deserves to be represented by someone local who knows the community and the issues. I have a proven record of delivering results for our area and want to do so much more.

"Stourbridge is my home and I would be honoured to have the opportunity to put my case to local Labour party members and then lead a winning campaign."

For the last three elections former Dudley Council leader and Lye Councillor Pete Lowe has stood for Labour in Stourbridge. During the 2015 General Election Councillor Lowe even had his own beer "Born Bred Believes" brewed to help his campaign. However, he was recently elected leader of the Labour group at Dudley Council and is supporting Councillor Eccles tilt at the seat, he retweeted her campaign announcement hours after it was posted..

Stourbridge will be seen as a key bellweather seat in the next General Election, which will be in January 2025 at the very latest, and often attracts national interest due to its reflection of the country as a whole.

Labour won Stourbridge under Tony Blair in 1997 and narrowly held it in 2001 and 2005. Conservative Margot James won the seat when the Government changed hands in 2010.

Ms James held several senior posts in the Government but resigned during the bitter disputes about Brexit and had the whip removed in September 2019. Despite the whip being restored for former businesswoman, who was opposed to Brexit, decided not to fight the 2019 General Election. Birmingham councillor Suzanne Webb was chosen as her replacement and she went on to win the seat.

Unlike a raft of other local Tory MPs, including West Bromwich East's Nicola Richards and Bromsgrove's Sajid Javid, Mrs Webb is set to defend her seat.