A county MP has announced her intention to defend her seat at the next general election.

Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire, will stand as the Conservative candidate come the next election, currently expected to take place late in 2024.

Mrs Baldwin, who backed Penny Mordaunt in the recent leadership contest, was selected to stand for the seat by local Conservatives and will defend a majority of over 24,000 votes.

She said: “I have been a strong voice for all of the people of West Worcestershire, and I am continually humbled by the sheer volume of people who have turned out to support me.

“National politics has been extremely fluid over the last decade but I have worked hard to press for the things that matter most for my constituents.”

Mrs Baldwin was first elected to the West Worcestershire seat in 2010 and has increased her majority at every poll since.

While she is proud of what she has achieved in that time, Mrs Baldwin admitted much more can still be done, with a particular focus on climate change.

“I’m immensely proud that in my term as local MP we have built a new community hospital in Malvern, the new Worcestershire Parkway train station, the doubling of the Carrington Road bridge and six impressive flood protection schemes,” she added.

“There is however, still much more to do. We all want to see more investment and extra capacity at the main Worcestershire Royal Hospital, much better broadband, more reliable mobile phone signals and I’d like to see the flood defences completed for Tenbury Wells and Severn Stoke.

“And as we face up to some of the longer-term challenges as we address climate change I will keep pressing for less reliance on the combustion engine and make it much easier for us to use greener forms of transport and better active travel corridors.”

Ian Daly, chairman of the West Worcestershire Conservative Association, has welcomed the news that Mrs Baldwin will stand once again.

He said: “Harriett has represented the people of West Worcestershire since 2010 and worked tirelessly to solve local issues and improve our community.

“I am delighted to announce that we have re-adopted her again as our Conservative parliamentary candidate at the next General Election and look forward to campaigning with her to win the continued approval of our constituency.”