Dudley’s new Labour MP says being a frontline NHS worker helped show voters she was someone they could trust.

Sonia Kumar regained Dudley for Labour by a majority of 1,900 to put another brick back in the red wall on a night when her party swept away their Tory opponents.

Dudley was previously in the hands of Conservative Marco Longhi but he could only manage second place with 10,315 while Reform UK’s Andrew Southall exceeded even his own expectations to finish a close third with 9,442 votes.

Sonia Kumar said: “People want trust in politics and I’m a frontline worker as an NHS physio, people want to see change and a fresh start.

“They could see someone that’s passionate and not a career politician.

“I am so thrilled, it is the honour of a lifetime to go from being a physiotherapist to being the MP for Dudley.

“I couldn’t be any happier today.”

Ms Kumar says Labour’s agenda for the UK will be at the heart of her priorities as an MP and also paid tribute to her party’s leader.

She added: “It is Labour’s plan for education, NHS services, to secure our borders, for safer streets and to break down barriers to opportunity.

“Keir Starmer has changed the party and changed Labour to be a party of service.”

As Labour celebrated winning the three seats which make up almost all of Dudley borough, their leader on Dudley Council, Cllr Pete Lowe, described the night’s events as incredible.

He said: “This is a historic night beyond our wildest dreams – to take all three seats in the manner that we have done it.  “People wanted change, they had seen enough over the last 14 years of what Conservative government brings to ordinary working families.”