A former Bolton MP has told constituents that “much soul-searching” led to his resignation from the Conservative Party, as he backs Labour at the next election.

Former Bolton North East MP, Mark Logan, announced his defection to the Labour Party today, Thursday, in which he said a government led by Sir Keir Starmer was “going to be better for the UK”.

Mr Logan represented Bolton North East since the 2019 general election until the dissolution of parliament on Thursday.

He took his seat from Labour with a narrow majority of just 378, making it one of the most marginal in the country.

In a letter, posted to this X account following the BBC interview, the former MP announced his immediate resignation from the Conservative Party, confirming he would not contest the Bolton North East constituency at the upcoming election, on July 4.

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Evoking the mood of New Labour’s 1997 election campaign, which had Things Can Only Get Better as its anthem, Mr Logan told constituents in the letter that “Labour is back, and given how things have been I believe things can only get better.”

The letter continued: “I am very proud to have represented Bolton North East since December 2019, a mere number of weeks before the Covid pandemic hit our nation.

“At home in Bolton, we have come through the pandemic and struggled with dire economic conditions: especially inflation.

“Abroad we have felt the painful effects of the suffering exacted on the people of Ukraine and more recently the Hamas terrorist attacks and the ongoing tragedy we see unravelling before our eyes in Gaza.”

Mr Logan went on to call for “an immediate cessation of all military attacks” and said that “Palestine must be recognised as a country in its own right, as part of a process that guarantees a safe and secure Israel".

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He also called for his replacement to realise his ambition of bringing the Metrolink to Bolton.

Mr Logan said his decision to join the Labour Party had come “after much soul searching throughout my first term in parliament.”

“I have concluded that we need a new government and I believe the UK will be best served with that government being a Labour government.”

He ended the statement thanking his team in Bolton and Westminster as well as councillors and Bolton residents “for being so open and honest.”

“Thank you for electing me and giving a boy from a similarly ignored part of the UK a chance to represent you in the House of Commons,” he said.