THE list of candidates vying to be Labour’s next parliamentary candidate for Worcester has been revealed.

The longlist of candidates for Worcester includes Tom Collins, Neena Gill, Danny Adilypour, Ellie Groves and Mark Williams.

This means there is no space on the list for long-standing city councillors Jabba Riaz and Matt Lamb, Roh Yakobi and Mark Crofts who all put themselves forward last month.

The new names on the list includes Neena Gill who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands in two stints between 1999 and 2009 and again between 2014 and 2020.

Also making Labour’s longlist of candidates is Ellie Groves, who was born in Worcester and went to school in Callow End, and is currently managing director of the Institute for Economic and Monetary Policy at banking and economic thinktank the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF).

Danny Adilypour is the current deputy leader and cabinet member for sustainable growth and new homes at Lambeth Council in London.

He joins former Southwark councillor Mark Williams, who lives in London but grew up and attended school in Droitwich, as prospective parliamentary candidates.

Tom Collins, who has lived in Worcester for 17 years and served as a councillor representing the city’s Rainbow Hill ward for Labour between 2018 until May, also moves to the next stage for the chance to represent the party in Parliament. 

Cllr Jabba Riaz, who is the current deputy leader of the city council’s Labour group and former city mayor, has been left out as well as St John’s councillor Matt Lamb who had previously stood as Labour’s parliamentary candidate in nearby Wyre Forest.

The city has been represented by Conservative Robin Walker since 2010 after he defeated Mike Foster – who was the first and last Labour MP to be elected in Worcester having held the seat for 13 years from 1997.

Robin Walker won again in 2015 and 2017 to keep hold of the seat for the Conservatives – finishing in front of Labour’s Joy Squires on both occasions with majorities of 5,646 and 2,508 – before defeating the city’s now Labour leader Lynn Denham with over half the vote and a 6,758 majority in 2019.