The leader of Green councillors on both Hertfordshire county and East Herts district councils believes his party could take the Hertford and Stortford seat from the Conservatives.
Cllr Ben Crystall said: “I am absolutely delighted that they [the Conservatives] are calling a General Election.
“We have had the Conservatives in power for far too long.”
Cllr Crystall believed the release of sewage into rivers, continuing years of austerity and NHS waiting lists would be crunch issues in the run-up to polling day on Thursday, July 4.
Pointing to his party’s success in the local government elections in May 2023, when the Greens became the biggest party on East Herts Council and entered into a power-sharing administration with the Liberal Democrats, he said taking Tory Julie Marson’s Hertford and Stortford seat in parliament was “a real possibility”.
The Green Party also controls both Hertford and Ware town councils.
His county council colleague, the Conservative authority’s leader, Cllr Richard Roberts said the announcement of a General Election on July 4 was “the right decision”.
He praised the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a “commendable leader”.
He said: “He has worked so hard to get the country back on an even keel – but he wasn’t moving the polls.
“I think he has made the right decision to go to the country.”
Cllr Roberts accepted his party faced a “difficult election”. But he urged residents in Hertfordshire to “think really carefully about who they want as their MP – and to vote accordingly”.
He observed: “This election will be a referendum on the Conservative parliamentary party and its Government – and we will see what the result of that is.”
He added: “After the election, I will be really keen – whatever the outcome – to work with all MPs, especially new MPs, because the agenda for Hertfordshire is really exciting.”
The leader of the county council’s Liberal Democrat group, Cllr Steve Jarvis, said: “I think everyone except some Conservative MPs will be delighted there’s a General Election,” he said.
Cllr Jarvis – who is also a member of North Herts Council – suggested the government had been struggling on and dealing with internal Conservative Party disagreements for “far too long”.
And he suggested that, in large part, the focus of the election period would be the “incompetence” of the Government over the last few years.
But he also pointed to concerns around the health service and sewage in rivers.
He would not predict the number of Liberal Democrat MPs there may be in Hertfordshire after the General Election, but he expected more than the single MP currently - St Albans Daisy Cooper.
Cllr Nigel Bell – who is leader of the Labour group on the county council and a member of Watford Borough Council – said the election announcement was “fantastic news”.
“It’s a relief at last that the country and the county have the chance for change.”
Cllr Bell suggested that a Labour Government would provide stability “after the years of uncertainty and chaos under the Conservatives”.
He pointed to the need for a recovery programme for schools and hospitals and for more homes in the county and nationwide.
He said a Labour Government would have the plans to provide the growth that is desperately needed.
“Residents have lost trust after 14 years of cynical Conservative Government and the Labour Party is ready to provide that trust and stability,” he said.
“We are confident the Labour Party will do well in Hertfordshire in the election to help provide the seats for a Labour Government.”
Hertfordshire has 11 parliamentary constituencies and 10 are currently held by the Tories.
The candidates who have already confirmed they will contest the Hertford and Stortford seat are:
Reform UK - John Burmicz
Liberal Democrats - Helen Campbell
Green Party - Nicholas Cox
Labour - Josh Dean
Conservative - Julie Marson