One of the best aspects of being a candidate is the range of experiences I have that I wouldn’t otherwise. Visiting Sacred Heart school in Westhoughton with the Prime Minister, touring the world class MBDA factory in Lostock and meeting local entrepreneurs such as Gordon Tickle who has regenerated Victoria Mill into a retail and leisure destination that includes a gym, shooting range, indoor paint ball and a children’s play centre.
Much of my time, as I go around the constituency, is spent learning and better understanding the concerns of local residents, businesses and voluntary groups so a typical day is more likely to be as follows:
An early-ish start today at a business breakfast, hosted by Kia in Horwich, where local businesses and other organisations came together. It was a great opportunity for me to hear that many local firms are seeing growing orders, increasing confidence in our recovering economy and are taking on new staff. I also heard about the great work of the Shaw trust in Bolton and their success in getting disabled people into work and how employers are increasingly engaging in creating new opportunities.
After a bit of office work to catch up with emails and discuss the concerns of residents – from pensions to the future of the NHS – I was back out on the campaign trail in Blackrod and then Horwich.
Canvassing is such an important part of understanding local concerns and there is such a range discussed on the doorstep. There is very little confidence that the local Labour Establishment is going to put residents first especially over the Loco Works, people do see that the economic recovery is happening and wouldn’t want a SNP/Labour pact with Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond calling the shots and writing Ed Miliband’s budget.
After the campaign trail, I headed over to Asda for a lively and well attended hustings at their Middlebrook shop. The points I made during the debate were focussed on there being two million more jobs in the economy, 1 million more children going to good or outstanding schools, the growth of apprenticeships and sustaining our recovery and not leaving a huge debt to the next generation.
Next it was to the Wheatsheaf in Westhoughton but not for a pint. There is yet another housing development planned for Westhoughton that is going to clog up our roads, cost us our green space and overload our services. I support local residents opposition to the 106 new houses on Roscoe’s Farm and was delighted to be joined by Cllr Martyn Cox and our two candidates for Westhoughton North and Chew Moor, Zoe Kirk-Robinson and Christine Wild.
At 10pm, it was back home to Wingates to catch up on emails and the news of the day.