GENERAL ELECTION: Profile of the West Worcestershire constituency

But not so long ago things were very different in this parliamentary seat - in fact it was on a knife-edge not so long ago.

In the 2001 and 2005 elections the Lib Dems gained serious traction around here, at one point coming within 2,475 votes of winning the seat in what would have been a headline-grabbing scalp.

Former Tory MP Sir Michael Spicer retired at the 2010 election and Mrs Baldwin then set about wrestling back the initiative.

Her increased majority two years ago coincided with a plunge in Lib Dem fortunes, meaning a massive voting swing is now required to make this a genuine contest again.

But Mrs Baldwin, a defence minister, does face a serious challenge this time round in the form of former MEP Edward McMillan-Scott.

The anti-Brexit campaigner, a former vice-president of the European Parliament, is basing his electioneering on pushing for another EU referendum.

On an 80 per cent turnout, 52 per cent of voters backed Leave in West Worcestershire last year - with the result mirroring the national outcome.

At the 2015 General Election the other parties fared poorly here, with UKIP finishing second on just over 7,700 votes compared to 30,342 for Mrs Baldwin.

It would take something remarkable for this seat to change hands, given the Conservative majority here just two years ago, but given recent polls all the rival parties will be seeking to capitalise.

The key questions, then, are what sort of progress are the Lib Dems actually making on the ground, can UKIP stand its ground, and what do voters make of Theresa May and her Government.

Labour is also contesting the seat and have selected ex-midwife Samantha Charles, while UKIP have selected its West Worcestershire branch chair Mike Savage.

The five-strong contest is complete with Green Party activist Natalie McVey, who is now a Malvern district councillor and has stood for parliament before, in the Wyre Forest.

Harriett Baldwin (Conservative)

This General Election is not a re-run of the referendum. It is about giving Theresa May a strong hand in her negotiations with the EU.

In the seven years I have been the MP for West Worcestershire, the local economy has grown with a record number of local people in work. Wages have grown fastest for those on the lowest earnings, income taxes have been cut while the deficit has been reduced from over 10 per cent to under three per cent.

If re-elected, I will continue to back local businesses to create jobs and apprenticeships, and continue to campaign for better connectivity by road, rail and superfast broadband.

Nine out of ten of our local schools are good or outstanding and I will continue to support fairer funding. I will also stand up for even more investment in our local NHS.

Samantha Charles (Labour)

I have lived and worked as an NHS Community Midwife in West Worcestershire for 17 years and also co-founded People in Motion, a local charity which supports displaced people in UK and across Europe and the Middle East.

I am a parent of four children ranging in age from 7 to 24, who have all attended school and grown up in Malvern and have faced the difficulty in affording university fees, finding jobs and affordable housing where they grew up.

During my time in the health service, I witnessed the effects the damaging Tory cuts had on the NHS and social care and on my children's education and future and I felt I must act to safeguard public services.

Labour will stand up for you. We will deliver a better, fairer Britain where prosperity is shared, everyone is rewarded fairly for hard work and where a home to rent or buy is affordable.

We will build a Britain for the many, not the few.

Edward McMillan-Scott (Lib Dem)

My family home has been near Pershore since I married Henrietta, a lawyer; we have two daughters.

I was a deputy Worcestershire organiser for Yes to Europe during the 1975 EC referendum. Today I am a Patron of the European Movement.

As a young Westminster political lobbyist, I commuted to London by train and co-founded the Cotswold Line Promotion Group; I am now a vice-president.

My family came to Worcestershire in the 18th century from Yorkshire. In 1984 I was elected to the European Parliament for Yorkshire & Humber, as a pro-European Conservative.

I was leader of the 36 Tory MEPs 1997-2001.

The Tories became increasingly anti-EU and after the 2009 Euro-election, David Cameron split from the centrist, majority European Peoples’ Party and formed a new Euro-sceptic alliance. I protested and joined the Liberal Democrats.

I was a vice-president of the European Parliament for ten years until I left in 2014.

Natalie McVey (Green)

Recently elected to represent Malvern West Ward in the District Council by-election, I have lived in Tenbury Wells with my Husband since 2015.

Previous to this I lived in the Wyre Forest Area where I was the first Green Party candidate to stand in a General Election.

In the run up to the election, I appeared on The Sunday Politics Show.

My job at Worcestershire County Council involves managing a number of high profile projects in libraries across the region including the annual Young Poet Laureate Competition, Summer Reading Challenge Volunteering, and embedding 'Autism Friendly Libraries' standards.

The main priorities for my election campaign are protecting local health, social-care, and mental health services, improving the accessibility of further education, and securing a second referendum on membership of the EU.

I believe that by focussing on these issues I am standing up for what matters in our local area.

Mike Savage (UKIP)

I've lived in Suckley, West Worcestershire, since 1983 where I run a computer software development company with my wife, Annette.

Many of the issues facing West Worcestershire are the same as those in the rest of the country.

I will fight to provide extra funding for more clinical staff and oppose threatened cutbacks in Malvern, Tenbury and Pershore community hospitals.

I will support our policy of improving education for all by re-introducing Grammar schools which not only serve the academic aspirations of brighter children, but also increase social mobility for those from less privileged backgrounds; and for the less academically gifted, the development of better education in technical subjects and more apprenticeships.

The growth in housing places an intolerable strain on the infrastructure with extra demands on health provision, school places and the road network; amongst others.

I will lobby the local council to provide infrastructure before allowing housing development.