Yasmin Qureshi MP: Bolton election result a cry for change

This verdict could not have been clearer, after 13 years of managed decline nationally and four years locally a new direction is required.

And that direction is a Labour government led by Keir Starmer.

It’s not just locally where this cry for change was made. Nationally, the results point to a majority Labour Government at the next election, a Government with completely different priorities from those of the past 13 years under the Tories.

A government which will support working families and the most vulnerable through the cost of living crisis and one which will grow the economy and provide the green jobs of the future, managing the transition to net zero. A government serious about tackling the problems we face in communities up and down the country.

Contrast this with the Conservative Party who have run our economy into the ground, sending mortgage payments soaring, inflation to over 10 per cent, and energy bills to record levels.

In Bolton, Labour made gains across the borough, in places we have not won for over 20 years and took back some key battleground seats, which now means Labour hold the most seats and the keys to our town hall.

A Labour-led Council now has the opportunity to get our town centre redevelopment back on track, support businesses in our borough and launch an ambitious plan for our town to help it to thrive. We need to see Bolton as the best place to work, study, and grow up in, and an active Labour Council will strive to make this a reality.

I want to take the chance as a Labour MP to say thanks to every single one of you who trusted Labour with one, two, or all three of your votes, wherever you voted in Bolton.

We have a golden opportunity to reverse the managed decline of the last 13 years and I, along with the Labour Group, hope to repay your trust by setting our town on a new course.