LABOUR’S battle bus headed to Cumbria for the second time in the General Election campaign - with senior party figure Lisa Nandy on board to support a Cumbria parliamentary candidate.
Lisa Nandy, Shadow Minister for International Development, visited Frenchfield Park in Penrith this morning, June 29 to show her support for Penrith and Solway Labour parliamentary candidate Markus Campbell-Savours ahead of the General Election next Thursday, July 4.
Speaking about the importance of the seat to the Labour Party on July 4, Ms Nandy said: "It's absolutely critical to us that we win here, there is no road to Downing Street that doesn't run through this constituency and that's why we are here because there has been a very energetic campaign that has been going on for some time.
"We have some great people elected to the council and a great Police and Crime Commissioner showing what Labour can do in power, but to win we need people to come out to vote for change.
"This was a traditional Conservative seat and if people want change, they need to come out and vote for Markus."
Candidate Markus Campbell-Savours said: "It's great that people, for local residents here that for the first time have got choice, this seat is made up of an area that was once a Labour heartland, and a seat that no one ever thought the Conservatives could lose, and now the people here have got a real choice and it's a privilege to be the Labour candidate and give people the opportunity to see the change which we here about day after day."
Speaking to members Lisa Nandy said that the Labour Party needed to restore peoples trust in politicians in order to gain more involvement in politics – with Electoral Calculus polls suggesting a possible drop in turnout for the Penrith and Solway constituency from 2019 figures.
When asked about her opinions on apathy towards politicians, the senior Labour party figure said: “I don’t think its apathy I think its trust, after 14 years of broken promises under the Tories I think peoples trust in politics is at an all-time low, we know that we have a big job on our hands to restore people’s faith in politicians and political parties. That is why we have been very keen in this election not to make promises we can’t keep.
“With Markus as the candidate here we are really proud we have got someone with skin in the game, he lives in this community, he fights for the community, he has got a track record for that, and this is personal to him.”
When asked about how Labour would address issues around transport in rural areas such as Cumbria the shadow cabinet member said the Labour Party have put transport ‘right at the heart’ of their manifesto, particularly looking at problems with buses and trains as a key priority.
She said Labour would put ‘people back in charge’ of their buses and highlighted Labours plans to stop the ‘chaos’ in rail, bringing rail franchises back into public ownership as they expire.
Other candidates standing for the Penrith and Solway constituency in the General Election are:
- JENKINSON, Mark Ian (Conservative)
- AGLIONBY, Julia (Liberal Democrats)
- DENHAM - SMITH, Susan Jane (The Green Party)
- IVINSON, Roy (Independent)
- JOHNSTON, Chris (Independent)
- LONG, Shaun Keith (Social Democratic Party)
- MOODY, Matthew (Reform UK)
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel