Labour MP Sir Mark Hendrick speaks after landslide victory in Preston

Lancashire Post

Following his comprehensive victory in the Preston constituency, Sir Mark Hendrick addressed the crowd as well as send a message to the people of Preston.

Transcript

00:00Voters of Preston, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the returning officer,

00:09the council staff and counting agents, and the police, in particular Michelle, for keeping

00:15the order of this count. I'd first of all like to thank my agent Matthew Farnworth for

00:20taking on the responsibilities that come with being the agent, and Labour Party members

00:26who have spent days and nights campaigning and delivering leaflets and working hard in

00:31Preston. I would also like to thank my wife Jenna, who unfortunately can't be with us

00:37tonight, who has given me total support through what has been a very difficult five years

00:42since the last general election in 2019, with endless late night sittings in Westminster,

00:49as well as the rigours of this general election. But most of all I would like to thank the

00:54people of Preston who have supported me not only in this election, but in the seven previous

01:00parliamentary elections when I have stood here in Preston. I'm now in my 24th year

01:07as your MP, and I'm honoured to have retained that trust throughout ten good years of Labour

01:13government, but after 14 years of Conservative rule they have become the bad years. The cost

01:19of living crisis, the effects of Brexit, cuts to our NHS, local government, schools

01:27and other public services have been a disgrace. A quarter of children in the UK are living

01:33in poverty, and 40% of the kids in Preston are suffering in poverty too. Universal credit,

01:41zero hours contracts are driving people to poverty, and the growth of food banks around

01:47the city of Preston is a testament of what's been done to this wonderful city. We have

01:53a government that has been heartless, cruel, and for most of the Prime Ministers and other

01:59Ministers, total strangers to the truth. The government is a government of right-wing extremists

02:07dragging us away, unceremoniously, from what should be a kinder and compassionate society.

02:14Hopefully, after tonight, they'll all be gone, and hopefully after tonight, or this

02:19morning as we are now, there'll be a new government, and a government which is about change and

02:25making people's lives in this country better for as many people as we possibly can. Thank

02:31you very much for your support, the people of Preston, and I look forward to spending

02:35the next term working my hardest, as hard as I can, for the people who have elected

02:41me and for those who have not supported me this time, but I do my best for everybody,

02:47whether you're a supporter or not. Thank you very much indeed.

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