MP ‘humbled and honoured’ by re-election

NEWLY re-elected Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury admitted he was ‘ecstatic’ to have gained the seat once more for Labour and vowed to champion the area in Parliament.

In a disastrous night nationally for Labour, where they lost dozens of seats and polled their worst General Election result since the mid1930s, exit polls suggested the Weaver Vale seat might also have followed the pattern of so many others across the country.

Following a partial recount at Frodsham Leisure Centre, Mr Amesbury was re-elected as the area’s MP after polling 22,772 votes – more than 500 votes greater than Conservative candidate Adam Wordsworth who attracted 22,210 votes.

Daniela Parker was third for the Lib Dems with 3,300 votes, while Nick Goulding polled 1,380 votes for the Brexit Party, with the Green Party’s Paul Bowers attracting 1,051 ballots.

Mr Amesbury expressed his joy at being re-elected and thanked his supporters, also explaining why in Weaver Vale he felt he was able to buck a national trend and retain his marginal seat.

He said: “I’m just ecstatic – I really am ecstatic. I’m humbled and honoured to be re-elected once again after only twoand-a-half years of being elected in 2017 to be the Labour MP for Weaver Vale, but I’m here to represent all the people of Weaver Vale.

“I’ve stood on a platform ensuring we put Weaver Vale first for investment rather than cuts, so I will be fighting every step of the way for our National Health Service, our public services, genuinely getting more police on the streets, our local school and responding to the climate emergency.

“When I came into this room not very long ago, obviously I’d seen the exit poll and it said I had a 99% chance of losing, so as you could imagine, I didn’t come in with much confidence.

“I remember last time

● Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury gives a victory speech after being re-elected as the area’s representative in Westminster round only two-and-ahalf years ago, it was the other way around.

“It said I had a 99% chance of winning. It just goes to show doesn’t it that polls can get it remarkably wrong on some occasions.

“What was that down to? I’ve worked my socks off for two-and-a-half years for all my constituents.

“I’ve done lots of case work – 9,000 pieces of case work – and I’ve had a brilliant team behind me and a fantastic wife as well who has put up with all my weaknesses every step of the way.

“We’ve organised and organised and organised and yes, we’ve bucked the national trend, only just.”

Discussing his plans over the next five years as the area’s representative in Westminster, Mr Amesbury vowed to hold the new Tory Government under Boris Johnson to account ‘every step of the way’.

But he would not be drawn on the party’s future leadership, after it was confirmed that morning that Jeremy Corbyn would not lead Labour at the next election.

Mr Amesbury said: “Over five years there’s a lot of work to be done.

“If we do have a majority Conservative government, my job as a Labour opposition MP is to hold them to account every step of the way.

“I don’t want to see us potentially crash out in a hard Brexit.

“Is he going to negotiate a free trade deal in a matter of nine to 11 months with the likes of the United States without putting our NHS for sale?

“No, it’s just fantasy stuff, so I’ll be exposing that.

“But very very importantly, pressing the Government to put genuine investment in our local schools, we need capital building in terms of our local hospitals such as Halton and the Victoria Infirmary as well.

“It’s a well-loved facility but it needs some real investment there. I’m going to be lobbying and pressing hard, at times pragmatically I’ll be working with others in Parliament.

“Jeremy will make an informed decision for himself.

“I’m not going to speculate around that. My job at the moment is to reflect a little bit in terms of the result here, recharge my batteries very, very quickly as I’ll be down there on Monday and fight the good fight for my constituents of Weaver Vale.

“That’s my focus.” Weaver Vale encompasses most of Runcorn New Town, Daresbury, Frodsham, Helsby, and Northwich.

It does not include Halton Castle ward in Runcorn, which is part of the Halton constituency.