Labour leader’s whirlwind tour ahead of election
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LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn visited Runcorn yesterday during whirlwind tour on the last day of campaigning before today’s General Election.
Mr Corbyn was due to stop at Phoenix Park in Castlefields and speak to voters as the Weekly News was going to press.
The park lies at the border of Labour stronghold Halton and key marginal Weaver Vale, won by the Conservatives in 2010 and 2015 with narrow margins of fewer than 1,000 votes.
It comes just a day after Mr Corbyn held a rally in Gateshead in the North East that saw a huge crowd pack into the town’s Sage Performance Square.
The Labour leader has been riding a surge in the polls that has cloed the gap to six points before falling back to seven.
This was down from a gulf of 17 points in April.
The shift could be enough to stop the Conservatives winning an overall majority and lead to a hung parliament.
Weaver Vale Labour Party announced the visit on its Facebook page as an ‘exciting news alert!!!’
It said the visit is intended to ensure that the party’s candidate Mike Amesbury, a former campaign adviser to Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham, wins and takes the seat from Conservative Graham Evans who has been the area’s MP since 2010.
Mr Corbyn’s visit follows comedian Eddie Izzard’s appearance in Frodsham last week, also Weaver Vale.
The diverse constituency covers most parts of east Runcorn including Palacefields, Windmill Hill, Brookvale, Murdishaw and Sandymoor as well as Daresbury and Dutton on the outskirts.
Frodsham, Helsby, Northwich and other parts of mid-Cheshire are also covered by the seat.