LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was confident his party could win back Bolton West in the December 12 General election.

As well as taking the seat back from Conservative Chris Green, he said the party would take back control of the borough council. Mr Corbyn also ridiculed the government’s Northern Powerhouse agenda of being all talk and no action.

He used a rally of more than 200 party supporters at Darwen’s ’s Library Theatre to promise major investment in the North West and multi-billion pound ‘Crossrail for the North’. Speaking to The Bolton News afterwards, Mr Corbyn said: “I am very confident we can win Bolton West. I think what we will ensure we will win it is the campaign we will run but also the way the party is involved with the community particularly on issues of child poverty and school underfunding. It is about investment in the future. We lost control of Bolton Council which I regret. I can’t give you the individual reason why people voted the way they did. I’m very confident however that we can win the Parliamentary seat in Bolton and that we will win back the council when we have the next opportunity.”

Mr Green said: “I’m glad to hear Mr Corbyn cares as he pops up from London. The reception I am getting on the doorstep across the constituency has been really positive.”

nElection battleground: Special Report, Pages 6-7