A WAR veteran and MP who is leading the 100th anniversary commemoration of the First World War for the Labour Party has visited Gheluvelt Park to pay his respects to the fallen.

Dan Jarvis, who represents Barnsley Central and is tipped to be the next Labour leader in some quarters, went with Councillor Joy Squires, Worcester's Labour parliamentary candidate, to see the park's war memorial for himself.

Cllr Squires said: "I wanted to show Dan Jarvis, who has had a long and successful military career himself, the striking, modern memorial to the fallen of WW1 and the stone commemorating 100 years since the Battle of Gheluvelt, where so many from the Worcestershire Regiment lost their lives.

"Gheluvelt Park is a fitting memorial to those to whom we owe so much."

Mr Jarvis said: "I was struck by how beautiful a setting Gheluvelt Park is for these two important memorials.

"I was very moved by the explanation Joy gave of the modern memorial to those who fell in the First World War.

"The panels, each centimetre representing 500 casualties, towered over us and were a stark reminder of how much we owe to so many who lost their lives."

Mr Jarvis had a colourful career in the army, reaching the rank of major in the Parachute Regiment during a 15-year spell and served in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan before getting into politics.

He acted as 'Aide de Camp' to General Mike Jackson.

His military career started in the Territorial Army attached to the Sherwood Foresters.

He was awarded an MBE for his service to the army after his election to parliament in 2011 and is currently Labour’s shadow youth justice minister, widely tipped as one of the party's up and coming names.

In recent months he has been tipped to be the next leader of the Labour Party should Ed Miliband fail to win in the General Election, and has spent the last nine days touring England knocking on doors in 40-odd canvassing sessions in the most marginal of seats.

Current Worcester Tory MP Robin Walker holds a majority of 2,982, with a swing of three per cent required for it to change hands.