Ashley Dalton secured a comfortable victory in this week's West Lancashire by-election.
The Labour candidate won 14,068 votes to become the constituency's new MP, replacing Rosie Cooper. Though turnout was slightly lower than expected, Ms Dalton's 62.3% share of the vote represented a 10% upward swing from the party's performance in the seat at the 2019 general election.
West Lancashire is a safe Labour seat that has been held by the party since 1992, but Thursday's (February 9) by-election also saw the Conservatives' worst-ever performance in the constituency. Candidate Mike Prendergast received just 5,742 votes, representing a 25.4% share.
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Labour's newest MP Ms Dalton, 50, was raised in South Ribble in Lancashire. Her dad worked on the factory floor at Leyland Motors before starting his own business as a nurseryman.
The MP joined the Labour Party while at university before working for Southend-on-Sea Council for 18 years. A survivor of stage three breast cancer, Dalton volunteered for Macmillan Cancer Support and was a LGBT+ officer for her local UNISON union branch.
She was Labour's candidate in the Essex seat of Rochford and Southend East at both the 2017 and 2019 general elections, losing both times to Conservative MP James Duddridge. Ms Dalton returned to Lancashire, where she worked part time for a charity.
When Rosie Cooper announced she was standing down as West Lancashire MP, there was speculation that Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham would stand to be Labour's candidate to return to Westminster politics. Mr Burnham did not stand and Labour's shortlist was made up of three women.
Ms Dalton beat former deputy leader of Knowsley Council Louise Harbour and Emma Fox, daughter of Speaker of the House Lindsay Hoyle to the nomination. Describing herself as "a parent, a carer, a cancer survivor and a Lancashire lass", Ms Dalton won the by-election quite comfortably.
She used her victory speech at Burscough Racquet & Fitness Centre to highlight a number of local issues. She said: "I have a plan to make West Lancashire a better place to live, work and grow old in.
Ms Dalton added; "I'm going to campaign to reopen our children's night-time A&E at Ormskirk Hospital, I'm going to challenge the government on its failure to deal with the cost of living crisis and I will pick up the baton and continue to fight for the long-awaited railway station for Skelmersdale".
However, the crux of the speech was a call for a general election, as Ms Dalton told the Conservatives to make way for a resurgent Labour party.
She said: “Tonight the people of West Lancashire constituency have spoken on behalf of the country.
“They have sent a message to this Conservative Government. They do not have confidence in them to govern or the Prime Minister to lead.
“Prime Minister, your Government has no ideas or a plan to address the big issues facing our country, like record levels of child poverty and people dying waiting for ambulances.”
Ms Dalton continued: “It is not acceptable that children in West Lancashire if they fall ill at night can’t be taken to their local A&E because it is closed. And it is not acceptable that child poverty levels were increased across West Lancashire because of the most punitive decisions made by this Government over the last decade.
“The people of West Lancashire have put their trust in Keir Starmer’s Labour. “We have provided hope. A hope that we can build a better Britain which means a better Lancashire where the NHS has time to care and one which tackles the root causes of poverty rather than create it.”
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