Labour's Tom Collins drops out of hustings at last minute

The candidate, who is one of seven hoping to be named Worcester MP in next week’s general election, was due to take questions at King’s School last night (Monday, June 24).

But Mr Collins dropped out shortly before the event. And has confirmed he also won’t be attending tonight’s Palestine-themed hustings at Friends Meeting House in Sansome Place.

Conservative candidate Marc Bayliss posted on Facebook to ask: “Where is Tom? The simple answer… not at hustings meeting his voters.”

QUESTION: Marc Bayliss asked where Tom Collins was (Image: Marc Bayliss)

Mr Collins said: “It was really frustrating - I had a meeting come up at the last minute that I couldn’t get out of.

“I’d really wanted to be there to speak to people and answer their questions.

“What we’re going to do is put on more ‘meet the candidate’ events so people can put their questions to me.”

Asked if he was keen to speak to the parents of children at private schools about Keir Starmer’s plan to tax private school fees, Mr Collins said: “Yes, of course.

“I’ve been speaking to a lot of parents about this on the doorstep and actually we’ve had some very constructive discussions about this.”

Mr Collins said he is planning to be at the election hustings at Nunnery Wood High School next Tuesday (July 2) and will continue to campaign on the doorstep.

We have asked King’s Worcester for a comment about last night’s hustings.