REDDITCH council leader Bill Hartnett has paid tribute to their parliamentary Labour candidate Rebecca Blake after a bruising night at the polls in the General Election.
“I cannot praise her enough, she could not have done anymore,” he said.
“Since being selected to represent Labour in Redditch three years ago she has worked tirelessly and she has been a credit to this constituency over the length of this campaign.
“Beckie has been a credit to to the party, a credit to Redditch and we are all very proud of her.”
However the former Greenlands councillor ran into a strong defence from the Conservatives, with Tory incumbent Karen Lumley increasing her majority to over 7,000.
Despite this Coun Hartnett hinted that the defeat had more to do with national issues rather than local ones: “Beckie Blake has been in every street and knocked on every door in the borough – she has campaigned strongly throughout however we accept the will of the people of Redditch.”
