It’s a blue Christmas as Tories sweep the board

JAKE Berry was delighted to have received the largest majority ever of any Conservative Rossendale & Darwen MP.

Mr Berry, who was first elected in 2010, comfortably held off council leader Alyson Barnes’ challenge as Jeremy Corbyn’s party suffered a dismal night across the country - particularly in Leave-supporting areas. Haslingden’s Labour MP Graham Jones was unseated by Conservative Sara Britcliffe, while Labour’s Ramsbottom MP James Frith also lost his seat to the jubilant Tories after a recount.

Mrs Barnes admitted it had been ‘a tough night across the board’ for Labour, but said the local swing had shown evidence of personal support. The Valley MP said his priority now was to deliver Brexit, having seen his majority soar to 9,522, a figure eclipsed only by Labour’s Janet Anderson in the seismic 1997 general election which saw Tony Blair sweep to power.

Mr Berry said: “It seems to me that this is a change on that scale. The Valley has spoken really clearly on the doorstep to me. The big issues were there was no trust in Jeremy Corbyn and people felt betrayed on the issue of Brexit.

“It’s a huge honour and privilege for people to put their trust in me. There is a big responsibility not only to deliver Brexit but also locally refocusing on people’s priorities like the NHS, putting more police officers on the streets and supporting more families.

“I’m going back to London on Monday morning with my new Conservative colleagues and we are going to get Brexit done by the end of January. There is a deal and we are going to pass it. It’s a good deal for Britain.”

Mr Berry, whose share of the vote rose by 5.6pc while the Labour vote declined by 7.5pc, is also Northern Powerhouse minister and said the changes in the makeup of the parliamentary Tory party following major inroads into traditional northern heartlands, presented an opportunity to strengthen the Powerhouse.

He said: “First of all I’ll be bringing together these new Conservative northern MPs, making sure that the amplified voice of East Lancashire is heard in government.

“I want to do a piece of work that brings together all the commitments for northern England made by the Conservative government in the election campaign. It’s a pledge book that can go into cabinet to make sure we can deliver for the north of England.”

When asked why it made a difference which political party his northern colleagues belonged to, he replied that he “would work with anybody”, but added: “On so many occasions many of the things that we have tried to achieve throughout East Lancashire have ended up not proceeding, sometimes because of factionalism between different political parties.”

Alyson Barnes said Labour had suffered a bad night, and admitted the party’s national leadership had been a thorn in their side on the doorsteps.

She said: “It was worse than expected, but I don’t think anybody thought it was going to be good. I think the swing here wasn’t as bad as it was elsewhere so there was a little bit of comfort there. It’s good to see that I’ve got a fair bit of personal support. The scheduling at this time of year was a bit mad and the public didn’t want [the election], that was for sure. They were fairly unresponsive on the doorstep, not just