"I won't let you down" - Elsie Blundell new Labour MP for Heywood & Middleton North

Elsie Blundell has been elected as the new Labour MP for Heywood & Middleton North.

With a turnout of 51%, the new MP, a councillor in Balderstone & Kirkholt, came away with 15,069 votes with a 6,082 majority. 

Steve Potter of Reform UK came in second with 8,987, followed by Conservative candidate Laura-Beth Thompson at 6,423.

Recent boundary changes mean that the newly-named Heywood & Middleton North constituency now includes the Spotland & Falinge ward, previously in Rochdale.

Heywood & Middleton North now includes the Crown Oil Arena, home of Rochdale AFC and Rochdale Hornets along with Oulder Hill and Falinge Park secondary schools which have been moved to the new constituency, which already includes Bamford, Castleton and Norden.

Two wards in Middleton - East Middleton and South Middleton - are now part of the Blackley & Middleton South constituency.

Addressing the crowd in the early hours of this morning (Friday 5 July), Elsie promised to fight for economic security, cheaper bills, and safer streets. 

She added: “This truly is a brilliant place with so much history and so much potential, but let’s be clear, things haven’t been working well under the Tories, from our severely underfunded health services, to education, to housing and policing it has been proven very difficult to keep our communities and our children safe and well.

“I am proud to be part of a Labour party that will transform our education system so that all young people get the opportunities that they deserve.

Elsie promised to get 6,500 new teachers into secondary schools “as quickly as possible”.

She continued: “We will once again expand our childcare and early years provision, drive up standards, modernise the school curriculum, and create high quality training and employment opportunities here in this constituency.

“As your Labour MP my priority will be supporting a future Labour government that will again work to ensure that in Heywood and Middleton North, and across the country, every boy and girl will have the best start in life.”

Towards the end of her speech she thanked the people of Heywood and Middleton North before adding: “I won’t let you down.”

 

 

Meanwhile, in Rochdale, George Galloway lost his seat to Labour candidate and Rochdale’s new MP, Paul Waugh.
 

Read more: George Galloway absent as Paul Waugh announced as Rochdale’s new MPPublished: 05 July 2024

For full details of the Heywood and Middleton North results, visit: rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/elections/election-summary/42/heywood-middleton-north