Thanks for your votes

I AM absolutely delighted to have been re-elected with an increased majority – and Reddish deserves some special thanks, because Labour voters there turned out in bigger numbers than anywhere else in the constituency.

Obviously I was absolutely gutted to see David Cameron slip back into Downing Street with a surprise majority.

He can thank fewer than 1,000 voters across the country – had they not voted, he would not have formed a majority government.

But now I am getting down to the job of challenging him and his ministers as they start to carry out a manifesto that nobody expected would ever see the light of day.

We now face billions of pounds of secret cuts that have not been set out in any detail.

My party faces an enormous challenge in the coming years.

We were rejected at the ballot box and we have to accept that and make a different offer. We have to decide what that offer will be – one that will appeal as much to those in Worcester as to those in Greater Manchester.

So I want your help. You can sign up to become a registered Labour supporter for only £3 and vote in our leadership contest.

Finally, I want to reiterate my commitment to Reddish and to Stockport and to promise that I will not stop working for our area.