They may be political allies, but three Greater Manchester councillors are set to lock horns in a battle to contest a key ‘red wall’ constituency at the next General Election. Rochdale councillors Elsie Blundell, Iram Faisal and Liam O’Rourke have all made the Labour longlist for Heywood and Middleton, together with Coun Azhar Ali, leader of Lancashire County Council’s Labour group.
The seat is currently held by Chris Clarkson, who became the constituency’s first ever Conservative MP as the Tories romped to a landslide victory in 2019. By the time the next General Election is called it is likely to have been renamed ‘Heywood’ - with South and East Middleton hived off to a new ‘Manchester Blackley’ constituency under a boundary shakeup.
But with Labour now consistently polling ahead of the Conservatives, the party will still no doubt still see the area as a key election battleground.
Below the four hopefuls set out why they want to fly the flag for Labour when the nation next goes to the polls. The Conservatives have also been given right of reply...
