Wyre Forest includes the towns of Kidderminster, Stourport-on-Severn and Bewdley, once the political base of Conservative inter-war Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. It was one of many 'small town' constituencies in the Midlands to fall to Labour in 1997 (along with Kettering, Wellingborough, Loughborough, Stafford, Warwick and Leamington among others) and could perhaps truly be described as 'middle England'.

Since 1997 however, strange events have been afoot in Wyre Forest District, virtually all of which lies within the constituency. In the 1999 local council elections, 'Health Concern' candidates won 7 seats in their battle to maintain services at Kidderminster Hospital, and in May 2000 they added another 11 seats, leaving the group close to overall control of the council, and the Labour vote reduced to less than 20%. How much effect all this will have on a general election contest remains to be seen, but it may benefit Conservative candidate Mark Simpson rather more than the sitting Labour incumbent David Lock. A possible early indicator was the Euro election result in the constituency, when the Conservatives led Labour by 43-25%, a far wider margin than in the nearby marginal seats of Worcester and The Wrekin.

Parliamentary Statistics pre-Election 2001

Labour majority 6,946 (12.6%)  Conservative target 102
MP David Lock
1997 (Turnout 75.4%)
Labour	26,843	48.8%
Conservative	19,897	36.1%
Liberal Democrat	4,377	8.0%
Referendum	1,956	3.6%
Liberal	1,670	3.0%
UK Independence	312	0.6%

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For Wyre Forest 2001 Election result - click here.