A former Wolverhampton city councillor was named this week as Labour’s challenger for The Wrekin constituency, to take on Conservative MP Mark Pritchard in the next General Election.
Paul Kalinauckas, 54, of Bilston, is chief executive of a community finance institution and chairman of Co-operatives West Midlands.
Mr Kalinauckas is confident he can win back the former Labour stronghold after it fell to the Tories in 2005 when Mr Pritchard overturned a 3,500 majority to win by just 942 votes.
However, the website Electoral Calculus, which predicts results based on analysis of polls and electoral geography, forecasts the Tory MP will be re-elected with a much greater majority.
Mr Pritchard said: “Once again the Labour Party has selected a candidate who lives outside Shropshire. He has no experience of local issues.”