Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Labour win back Coatbridge seat
New MP Hugh Gaffney reclaims constituency
New Coatbridge MP Hugh Gaffney headed to Westminster for the first time yesterday after winning back the constituency from the SNP.
A postman to trade, he delivered an election night surprise in North Lanarkshire by overturning Phil Boswell’s 11,501 majority to return Labour to the area’s parliamentary map.
He told the Advertiser: “I’ll be somebody for the people. It’s all about them and I’ll always fight for people first.
“The next generation deserve better wages. We need to eradicate zero- hour contracts and young people need a future with hope, decent pay and homes.
“It’s an absolutely brilliant feeling. This isn’t for me. It’s for the people of Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill and for the people whose lives I want to change.”
A long-serving trade union activist and secretary of North Lanarkshire Trade Union Council, the new MP added: “I’m delighted to be the representative here as I’ve been in my workplace. I’m happy to represent people and now to do that for the full community.”
The Coatbridge constituency had traditionally been a safe Labour seat and was represented by Labour’s Tom Clarke for 33 years until the 2015 SNP landslide, when Mr Boswell won what was once the safest seat in Britain with a new majority of 11,501.
Mr Gaffney said of the swing back to Labour in this year’s snap election: “I knew it was going to be close but I thought we could overturn that 11,000 as I felt the people of Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill were ready for a change.
“When I started chapping doors I started building up more and more confidence. I had a good, strong team behind me and we were working morning, noon and night. It was the people that won this and it’s their result, not mine.”
He added that the continuing Scottish independence debate had proved crucial, saying: “I’m a Scotsman as well, the same as everybody else, but I’m not a nationalist, I’m an internationalist.”
The general election proved to be Mr Gaffney’s second ballot-box success in five weeks, as he was also elected to North Lanarkshire Council to represent the Thorniewood ward.
He added that the council election results in his area, which led Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale to call Coatbridge “a real priority seat”, were “a massive boost”.
The new MP says he plans to combine both positions but that he will be foregoing his wage from the local authority, run by a minority Labour administration.
Mr Gaffney said of his dual role: “I’m not going to call a by-election. I’m proud of being a councillor and of the people who elected me and gave me that faith.
“I won’t be claiming my council wage. I’ll be giving it over to improve swing park facilities for disabled children.
“I’ll be taking the jobs seriously and, whether it’s at Westminster or the Civic Centre, it’s about the people of Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill.”