Salford Now Election Edition December 12

SALFORDNOW AT THE HEART OF ALL THINGS SALFORD

#GE2019SALFORD Barbara Keeley has been re-elected as the MP for Worsley and Eccles South

Friday 13 December 2019

ELECTION SPECIAL

BITTER SWEET VICTORY

Labour keep all three Salford seats but suffer large losses across UK Graham Stringer remains the MP for Blackley and Broughton cxcxcxcxc

Rebecca LongBailey has been re-elected as the MP for Salford and Eccles

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How did Salford vote on Brexit?

By Lydia Ransome The three constituencies of Salford voted to leave in the Brexit referendum in 2016.

Three years after the referendum, the results of this snap election will decide the outcome for Britain leaving the European Union.

If the Conservative party remain in government, Brexit will go through on January 31.

The exit poll results suggest that voters voted in favour of Conservative to ensure the deal goes through, after being rejected several times under Theresa May and Boris Johnson.

Residents of Salford voted 56.8 per cent Leave.

Worsley and Eccles South voted to Leave 59.79 per cent, the highest percentage of the three constituencies.

That was almost 8 per cent higher than the national average.

The Salford and Eccles constituency were above the national percentage with a larger majority.

The count for the election results in Worsley and Eccles South and Salford and Eccles constituencies is taking place at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford. Voters in Blackley and Broughton had a much smaller majority.

Just over half voted for Brexit.

Brexit was originally due to happen on 29 March 2019, two years after then Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50. Under Mrs May, the deadline was delayed twice after MPs rejected her Brexit deal - eventually pushing it to 31 October.

The EU agreed to a further extension until 31 January and the results of this general election will determine whether, if at all, Britain leave the European Union.

...and now she’s being tipped for leader job

By Tara Dalton

Victory for Long-Bailey in Salford and Eccles

Rebecca Long-Bailey and, inset, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

By James Spencer

Labour’s Rebecca Long-Bailey has been re-elected as the MP for Salford and Eccles with 28,755 votes.

Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy won her third election last night in the Salford and Eccles constituency.

Long-Bailey is seen as a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn and is now a front runner to become the next leader of the Labour Party. But today she said a leadership bid was ‘not something that I’m thinking about’.

In an exclusive interview with Salford Now she said: “One of the things that certainly struck me in the campaign was making sure that people actually understood what our policies were.”

Earlier she said: “I think we’ll have to analyse in a lot of detail what happened. Certainly in Salford and across the north west Brexit consistently came up on the doorstep and we were a party that tried to bring together those who voted Leave and those who voted Remain and perhaps that wasn’t a position that satisfied many of our constituents and voters across the North particularly but that’s something we will look at in greater detail.”

When asked if she wanted to be leader of the party, Ms Long-Bailey replied: “It’s not something that I’m thinking about, I think we need to get through tonight, see where the chips fall and then we will re-group as a party, assess what’s happened and what the next steps need to be.”

The 40-year-old was born in Old Trafford and attended Chester Catholic High School before becoming a Salford docker and trade union representative at Shell, Barton Docks.

Her career then branched into customer service at a pawn shop before working in call centres, a furniture factory, and a postal delivery before eventually studying Politics and Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan (MMU), with a string of conversion courses in her quest to become a solicitor. Ms Long-Bailey worked at

various law firms: Halliwells, Pinsent Masons and Hill Dickinson.

She then transitioned from lawyer to politics as she headed a women’s only candidate list and was elected over four and half years ago. Another election victory came in 2017 as she reinforced her hold on the Salford constituency winning nearly 66 per cent of the popular vote.

She studied law at Manchester Metropolitan University as she completed her solicitor training conversion course. Last night’s result now means Salford and Eccles have elected a Labour MP in every election since the constituency’s creation in 2010.

Before the result, the Conservative candidate Attika Choudhary said she felt that she might have picked up more votes than she expected, and the results showed this.

Her Party achieved 12,428 up just 394 from the 2017 election.

The Green Party also enjoyed an increase vote share as something its candidate is Bryan Blears, nephew of former Labour MP Hazel Blears, is attributing to the “David Attenborough effect” after his documentary Our Blue Planet. They received 2,060 votes up from 809 votes in 2017.

The Lib Dems also saw an increase in votes from 1,286 in 2017 to 3,099.

Salford and Eccles candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey is one of the favourites to replace Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Long-Bailey, who was the sitting MP, is neck and neck with Keir Starmer in the betting to succeed Corbyn who is expected to resign if the Labour result is as bad as expected.

The 10 pm exit polls predicted Conservatives to win 368 seats, compared to Labour’s 191.

Long-Bailey was said to have a 99+ chance of holding her seat. Results are expected at around 3am.

Underneath shows the Sky betting odds for Corbyn’s potential successor.

The Shadow Business Secretary grew up by Old Trafford football ground in Manchester and began her working life serving at the counter of a pawn shop, according to her website. She has also worked in call centres, a furniture factory, and as a postwoman before eventually studying to become a solicitor, her online biography adds, while she describes herself as a “proud Socialist” in her Twitter profile.

Salford and Eccles strong Labour seat for 10 years

By Ellis Hyde

It’s important to know that this constituency include the city of Salford and Eccles, they are not the only areas that will soon be represented by one of the five candidates on the ballots.

The constituency also includes; Claremont, Eccles, Irwell Riverside, Langworthy, Ordsall, Pendlebury, Swinton North, Swinton South, Weaste and Seedley. The city of Salford is also twinned with a number of European cities; Clermont-Ferrand, France, Saint-Ouen, France, Nar-

bonne, France and Lünen, Germany.

Salford has been home to a number of important figures and events since its formation as a city in 1926, and before too. For example, it was the birthplace of the modern movement of vegetarianism. When Reverend William Cowherd began preaching the virtues of the vegetarian diet more than 200 years ago. The city of Salford also has a long history in the textile industry, becoming one of the first areas to be industrialised during the industrial revolution.

Closer to today, much of Salford, specifically areas like Langworthy and Ordsall faced a crisis after large

population decline due to unemployment, escalating crime levels and rising poverty in the area. This marked an enormous change for two parties in particular; the recently elected New Labour government of 1997 who gained significant popularity because of their commitment to the poorest in the country.

As well as the area of Salford and Eccles which saw massive regeneration of areas like Manchester’s Victorian slums, which brought in new residents, but also displaced many through the government cut-price purchasing of their houses.

The Salford and Eccles constituen-

cy has been a strong Labour seat since its creation in 2010, being represented in Parliament for the last 9 years

by Labour MPs; first Hazel Blears (2010-2015), followed by Rebecca Long-Bailey, the current MP and Labour’s candidate for Salford and Eccles seat in the upcoming election.

Salford and Eccles was also mixed when it came to the Brexit referendum in 2016, overall Salford and Eccles voted to leave the European Union.

The largest proportion of leave votes from the city of Salford whereas the wards of Ordsall/Salford Quays and Eccles voted to remain.

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What do Salford residents want from the PM?

By Helen Mather

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Keeley wins Worsley and Eccles seat for sixth time

Barbara Keeley

By Tara Dalton and Connor Whitley

After surviving a nervous night, the Labour candidate Barbara Keeley has been re-elected as the MP for Worsley and Eccles South with a majority of 3,121 reduced from 8,379. In total she won 45.6 per cent of the vote.

Mrs Keeley has been Labour MP for the constituency since its creation in 2010 and the MP for Worsley, the constituency that proceeded it between 2005 and 2010.

In her victory speech Mrs Keeley said: “We’ve run a good campaign in difficult circumstances. My team can

continue to support 1000s of constituents, that’s the most important thing.”

She added: “Clearly this is not an easy night for my party, I never take anything for granted. We fought this

campaign as well as we could in the very difficult and challenging circumstances of a winter election.

“I really want to thank everybody who has put my faith in me again that’s very important.”

It was predicted by the exit poll that Rabbi Arnie Saunders, the Conservative candidate, would win the constituency but he returned less votes than the Conservative candidate in 2017 with their vote share down from 17,667 to 17,227 accounting for 38.4 per cent of the vote.

The night has not been good for Labour with the exit poll predicting they would lose 71 seats.

Mrs Keeley said: “I feel deep concern for tonight’s results for Labour across the country. This election has focused on the NHS. Labour are the Party of the NHS. This country needs a Labour Party to stand up for good services, for principles. Labour will be back. We need a Party to represent the many.”

Brexit Party candidate Seamus Martin won 3,224 votes due to strong Euroscepticism in the constituency. In the 2016 European Union referendum 59.79 per cent of the constituency voted in favour of leaving the European Union and in the 2017 election UKIP won 18.3 per cent of the vote.

Worsley and Eccles South safe red

By Mair Llewellyn

Following its 2006 review of parliamentary representation in Greater Manchester, the constituency of Worsley was extended to incorporate a part of Eccles, creating the Worsley and Eccles South constituency.

The electoral wards within the constituency include Barton, Boothstown and Worsley.

It features a number of historical landmarks, green spaces and suburban communities within it, especially within Worsley, with the most famous being the Bridgewater Canal. The Salford landmark was given its name

for its distinctive colour, which is created due to the high levels of iron oxide, or rust, that forms in the river due to iron deposits in the nearby Duke of Bridgewater coal mines.

For some the special colour of the river is characterful, and part of the Salford landscape. Whereas many others see it as an eye-soar and evidence of the polluting qualities of coal and fossil fuels. Walkden, one of the wards in this constituency, has produced a large number of notable people, including; Coronation Street actor Alan Halsall.

Before 1949 Little Hulton was a village of around 8,000 people, however

the land was developed by Worsley Urban District Council to accommodate residents moved there from postwar slum clearance areas. By 1962, 3,060 houses had been built.

The constituency of Worsley and Eccles South is another new addition to the electoral roll, with its seat in parliament first being voted on in 2010.

Since then it has been represented by Labour MP Barbara Keeley. Though it is seen as a Labour favourable constituency, it does contain two of the Conservative Party’s strongest wards within Greater Manchester: Worsley, Boothstown and Ellenbrooks.

Across the UK today the majority of our nation has turned up to their local polling station to make their mark on the future.

The pouring rain has not stopped thousands of Salfordian’s voting today, they have visited primary schools, social clubs, scout huts and leisure centres to mark a simple tick on their ballot sheet to possibly change Salford’s history.

We went out onto the streets of Salford to find out exactly what they want from the Prime Minister who is going to take us into the next decade.

What I want from my Prime Minister: “Please look after the least fortunate members of our society. Get in touch with the people and find out what the locals need.”

“Anybody who stops all this immigration coming into this country is all for me they take all the NHS of us we have no housing they take everything.

It should be Britain first, your born and bred in this country you should get everything first.”

“Bring country back together, and sort out the mess the last 10 years has led.”

“Definitely the NHS, I think the NHS is very underfunded and the fact that people can’t get seen, waiting 30 weeks for life-saving operations is ridiculous because its one thing we pride ourselves on in this country. I wish the future prime minister doesn’t sell the NHS but save the NHS.” “The NHS, the way it is at the moment is disgusting like that picture of that little boy laying on the floor, the other thing is the housing situation I’m worried about the next generation my grandkids that are growing up.

I mean it’s in a state the country really.”

“Let’s get Brexit through, get rid of all this uncertainty and make Britain great again.”

“The Brexit party straight through and through get it out, whether it’s controversial I don’t care. That’s what I want.”

“Most important is improving transport infrastructure, a lot of investment has been made at the quays.

I think making it easier access to Manchester and the North West would be a really important point to improving the economic performance of Salford.”

“Whoever gets in needs to really get their knuckles down and really work out to sort out the mess this country is in.

I’d like to see more housing being made available for people living on the streets and more towards social care as well.”

For all latest election results, analysis and coverage visit www.salfordnow.co.uk

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Success at home, but a dreadful night nationally

By Lauren Lomax

Salford student journalist Ellis Hyde Photo credit: Lydia Ransome

New period of distrust

BY Ellis Hyde

Though we have seen our fair share of wariness in the electorate in these past few years, this election marked a new period of distrust between us and the institutions we have rely on.

As the votes of yet another General Election are counted and we look forward to a new political era we should take a moment reflect on the campaign.

In truth, it is difficult to find anything new to say about it. Largely because of how repetitive this campaign has been to those held in 2015 and 2017.

Their similarities have allowed them to simply meld into one repetitious mass, becoming indistinguishable from one another.

Yet, there is one aspect shared between both the campaigning by all candidates this year and the media’s coverage of it which separates this campaign from those before: their focus on ‘battle constituencies’.

It seems to have been accepted that the parties can simply ignore large portions of the electorate because of their previous voting patterns.

A facet taken from the questionable American electoral college system, this fixation upon a select few of the 650 constituencies for their potential to change the entire outcome of the election has only furthered the alienation felt by many voters.

Politicians who have chosen to actively ignored areas of the country due to their previous voting habits can only be described as insulting. Many members of the electorate have had to simply accept their vote will have little impact.

On top of this, the often viscous tone of the campaign has only further alienated the mainstream.

Of course I understand that British politics has never prided itself on its displays of niceties during these campaigns. But this time there has been little respect or understanding between participants.

I often found myself pushing this election to the back of my mind.

Knowing that barring any major calamities, missteps or stereotype altering announcements from any of the major political parties that is where it would remain.

And I’m pretty sure I’m not alone, with many fellow voters simply sticking to their previous voting habits and others totally withdrawing from any part of this election.

Graham Stringer has been elected as the MP for the constituency of Blackley and Broughton with 23,887 votes.

Conservative MP Alexander Victor Elias was second with 9,485.

Mr Stringer said: “It has been a successful night for Labour in Manchester, it has been a dreadful night for Labour nationally.”

Despite a reduced share of the vote, Mr Stringer still led by 14,402.

Mr Stringer was raised in Manchester, having attended Christ Church Primary School, Beswick and Moston Brook High School for Boys. He left Manchester to attend the University of Sheffield, where he graduated in 1971 with a degree in Chemistry.

He worked as an analytic chemist in the plastic industry, before becoming a local councillor for Manchester in 1979.

Stringer has held the seat for nine years, since the Blackley and Broughton seats merged in 2010.

He previously held the seat in Blackley from 1997, when he took over the seat from the retired Kenneth Eastham.

He is the third Labour Member of Parliament in the Blackley constituency, which has been a safe Labour seat since Paul Ross defeated Erin Johnson in 1964.

The 69-year-old has proven himself a popular MP for Blackley and Broughton, having won the 2017 General Election with 70.45 per cent of the votes.

He became a member of the Environment, Transport and Regional Affair Committee in 1997 and served on this until he became a parliamentary secretary in 1999.

Labour MP for Blackley Graham Stringer After spells as both a back bencher and parliamentary whip, he served on the transport committee for six-years.

During this time, he campaigned against congestion charges in Greater Manchester.

Stringer is also a member of Labour Friends of Israel, promoting the relationship between Britain and Israel.

He has previously criticised Labour party leaders, being the first member of parliament to publicly call for

Gordon Brown to resign as the Prime minster in 2008 and branding Ed Miliband’s 2014 election campaign “unforgivably unprofessional”.

Stringer has also made headlines as a prominent Eurosceptic in the Labour Party and favoured an EU referendum.

In 2018, he was one of the four Labour MP’s to oppose the amendment for the UK to remain in the customs union in the event of a no deal Brexit.

Blackley constituency formed only nine years ago

By Mair Llewellyn

Similar to the constituencies of Salford and Eccles, and Worsley and South Eccles, Blackley and Broughton was only recently formed in 2010 following a review by the government’s Boundary Commission.

The constituency of Blackley and Broughton included; Charlestown, Cheetham, Crumpsall, Harpurhey, and Higher Blackley, and the City of Salford wards of Broughton and Kersal.

In 1844 the township of Broughton-cum-Kersal was incorporated into the Salford borough, despite much opposition from some of the more wealthy residents, whilst Blackley remains part of the Manchester borough.

Over the years the area has produced a number of famous faces, such as; former Manchester United and Manchester City footballer Jon Macken, Current Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland and former director of the London School of Economics How-

ard Davies as well as actor Bernard Hill, who has starred in Titanic and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Blackley and Broughton is another Salford area which is covered with green spaces is open to the public, including Heaton Park, which makes up 25 per cent of Manchester’s green spaces and is one of the largest parks of its kind in Europe.

In addition, Blackley Forest is an example of one of the UK’s first community woodlands and a site of biological importance.

The planting of the park’s first trees took place in 1953 to commemorate the Queen’s coronation and also the local people who gave their lives in the Second World War. The constituency of Blackley and Broughton is another strong Labour seat in Parliament, with the residents of the constituency being by Graham Stringer for the past nine years since the first election involving the constituency. Since 2010, the Labour majority in the constituency has risen from 54 per cent to 70 per cent.

http://www.salfordnow.co.uk

FRIDAY 13 DECEMBER 2019

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Lars Roys Salford student

International students voice on the election

By Lars Roys

Jeremy Corbyn on tthe campaign trail in Bolton

Photo credit: Joe Giddens

Big gains for Tories across the whole of the North West

By Jwan Butimar

The political map of the North West was dramatically redrawn overnight with the Conservatives making a series of gains from Labour.

While Salford, Manchester and Merseyside remained loyal to Labour, the surrounding constituencies turned blue with victory often decided by a few hundred votes.

Labour losses in the region included Bury South, Bolton North East, Heywood and Middleton, Leigh, High Peak, Warrington South, Burnley, Hyndburn and Blackpool South Labour’s David Crausby lost Bolton North East by 378 votes to Tory candidate Mark Logan who polled 19,759.

In Bury South Conservative Christian Wakeford snatched victory from Labour candidate Lucy Burke by 848 votes. He said: “We do have to get our Brexit deal through first so we can start focussing on the priorities of the people.”

He added he had a positive campaign and now planned to deliver on promises to regenerate high streets, protect green belts and to deliver a new high school for Radcliffe.

Andy Carter for the Conservatives narrowly beat Labour’s Faisal Rashid with a winning tally of 28,187.

Meanwhile, in Heywood and Mid-

dleton Conservative candidate Chris Clarkson polled 20,453 votes, scooping a majority of 663 votes over Labour’s Liz McInnes.

Antony Higginbotham became Burnley’s first Conservative MP for 100 years by polling 15,720 votes and pushing Labour’s Julie Cooper into second place by little more than 1,000 votes.

Shadow minister Gordon Marsden had been battling to hold on in Blackpool South, the seat he first won in Labour’s landslide 1997 election and held in 2017 with a majority of 2,523.

He was beaten last night by Conservative Scott Benton who polled 16,247 votes and has a majority of 3,690.

Further afield in Cumbria the constituencies of Workington and Barrow & Furness were also lost by Labour to the Tories.

After being re-elected to her Manchester Central seat, Labour MP Lucy Powell said the party needed to look “deeply and profoundly” at what went wrong.

She said: “That means an honest, objective, serious analysis about what has gone wrong and how we can reshape our party for the future so that we can once again deliver what the people of Manchester Central want and that is a Labour government doing radical and brilliant things for our city.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks to staff and students during a visit to Bolton in November Photo credit: Christopher Furlong

They cannot vote but that does not stop international students at the University of Salford from having their say on the General Election.

According to The Office for National Statistics (ONS), more than 9.4 million people living in the UK are foreign which makes up over 14.3 per cent of the UK’s population.

Voters in the United Kingdom must meet several requirements. One is to be a UK citizen or come from a Commonwealth country.

That is not the case for a lot of international students living in Salford That means many residents cannot influence our city’s future.

Cynthia Cutler, from Ohio in the US, is a biochemistry student at the University of Salford. She cannot vote in the General Election.

She said: “It’s a little frustrating because it’s gonna impact how I live here in the next semester and whatnot. It’s a little irritating to be on the sidelines and not being able to do anything about it.”

Her description is supported by fellow American Josef Leizerowitz.

“I have a visa here for three years.

If I was a full-time resident and had a full-time job here I think I would be more frustrated with it. But maybe since I’m here on a temporary basis, I can kind of understand why I’m not participating in the decisions for this country,” says Leizerowitz.

Bulgarian journalism student Viktor Kayed is annoyed he cannot vote.

“This shapes our future, these elections, and what if I want to stay here in the UK for our lifetime. What are we supposed to do? Just sit and watch people decide our future? I’m frustrated with it,” says the Bulgarian.

Although they think it is frustrating that they cannot vote, do the international students think the system is fair?

“Yes and no. It makes sense for people like me who is only living here for a year or temporary as a student.

“But if people are living here as a permanent resident and doing everything else the UK people are doing…

“It’s a little unfair to people in those situations not to have a say in the government.”

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Boris Johnson Photo credit: Chatham House

Johnson promises 2020 Brexit

By Catherine Wylie

Boris Johnson has promised that 2020 will be the year that Brexit uncertainty finally comes to an end - and he plans to take the UK out of the EU in his first 100 days in government.

The Prime Minister has consistently vowed to leave the EU by January 31 and then finalise a trade deal with Brussels within 11 months, to meet the transition period deadline.

But the viability of that time frame has been questioned in Brussels, with the European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier branding it “unrealistic”.

The Tories plan to announce their legislative programme on December 19 in a new Queen’s Speech.

The EU Withdrawal Act Bill will also be brought back to the Commons before Christmas.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, holding his dog, Dilyn, cast his vote in the 2019 General Election at Methodist Central Hall, London.

Before 100 days have passed, the Conservatives say they will have delivered a “post-Brexit Budget” in February which will cut taxes for hardworking families, changed the law to end the automatic release of serious violent and sexual offenders at the halfway point, and launched a review of defence, security and foreign policy.

The party said in the first 100 days they would legislate for a funding increase to schools, change the law to increase the amount that migrants pay to use the NHS, begin cross-party talks to find a solution to the challenge of social care, and finalise an agreement with mobile phone operators to improve mobile service in the countryside.

The party also said it will introduce: - legislation to ensure the extra £33.9 billion per year it says it is putting in to the NHS by 2023 is enshrined in law - legislation to create a new Australian-style points-based immigration system - legislation for tougher sentences to ensure terrorists spend longer in prison.

- legislation to create a system which prevents “vexatious claims” being brought against Armed Forces veterans.

It has also promised to set out future schemes for trade, agriculture, fishing and the environment once the UK leaves the EU. But delivering those schemes will rely on trade deals with the EU and others - and they will take many more than 100 days to sort out.

Jeremy Corbyn at last night’s count

Jonathan Brady/PA

Johnson’s Tories take FIFTY seats from Labour as Corbyn announces he won’t run again

By Ellis Hyde

Boris Johnson has stormed to a massive victory in the General Election after taking more than 50 seats from Labour.

The Conservatives secured well over 350 seats on a night that left Labour reeling from its losses in its traditional heartlands in the North.

As the scale of the defeat emerged, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced he will not stay in the job to fight another election.

The SNP also made big gains in Scotland where Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson lost her seat and resigned as party leader shortly after.

Mr Johnson said on his party’s success: “At this stage it does look as though this One Nation Conservative government has been given a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done.

“And not just to get Brexit done, but to untie this country and to take it forward and to focus on the priorities

of the British people, and above all, on the NHS. And yes we will recruit 50,000 more nurses and 6,000 more GPs, and we will build 40 new hospitals.

“Above all I want to thank the people of this country for turning out to vote in a December election that we didn’t want to call but which I think has turned out to be a historic election that gives us now, in this new government, the chance to respect the democratic will of the British people to change this country for the better and to unleash the potential of the entire people of this country.”

Mr Johnson’s party surpassed predictions of their success from the initial exit poll which had pointed to a blue surge.

Labour suffered substantial loses, including seats that the party had held for almost a century, such as; Great Grimsby, Rother Valley, and Wakefield.

Following the disastrous results Jer-

emy Corbyn confirmed he would not lead his party into another election.

In a speech to his Islington constituency he said: “I want to also make it clear that I will not lead the party in any future general election campaign.

“I will discuss with our party to ensure there is a process now of reflection on this result and on the policies that the party will take going forward.

“And I will lead the party during that period to ensure discussion takes place and we move on.”

Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson lost her seat in the constituency of East Dunbartonshire to SNP candidate Amy Callaghan by 150 votes.

She quit as the Lib Dem leader shortly after.

Sir Ed Davey and Baroness Sal Brinton will be acting leaders for the party.

In her closing remarks to the crowd at the count in East Dunbartonshire last night, Ms Swinson said: “Let me say now, for millions of people in our

country these results will bring dread and dismay and people are looking for hope.

“I still believe that we as a country can be warm and generous, inclusive and open, and by working together with our nearest neighbours we can achieve so much more.

“Liberal Democrats will continue to stand up for these values that guide our liberal movement. Openness, fairness, inclusivity. We will stand up for hope.”

Yet, those were not the only parties to experience significant loses, as DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds has lost his seat in a disastrous night for his party. Mr Dodds lost the North Belfast seat he had held since 2001 to John Finucane of Sinn Féin.

Elsewhere; the SNP gained an additional 13 MPs after winning 48 seats, Plaid Cymru won just four seats and the Liberal Democrats were elected in 10 constituencies, losing one seat overall.

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Student Madeline Bateson Photo credit: Rob Howe

Day in the life of a student voter

By Madeline Bateson

Boris Johnson celebrating his victory this morning Photo credit: Andrew Matthews

Jo Swinson lost her seat

Photo credit: Jane Barlow

When the election date was announced for December 12, questions were raised as to whether the student vote would go missing at it falls when many students are travelling home for Christmas.

In 2017, some seats in the general election appeared to be swung by students, with many having to vote in at their term time constituency as opposed to their home address.

However, this year students are being encouraged to vote where they think their vote could have the most impact, with some websites even encouraging tactical voting.

With over 250,000 Salford residents and an added 20,000 Salford students, could this be enough to influence voting? Intrigued by this idea, I decided to investigate the reality for many students and travel back to my home town to vote, As I am currently a student living Salford, I decided to make the quick commute home to Bradford to cast my vote and then return back to University while documenting my journey.

I decided the most feasible, and cheapest, way of getting home to vote would be to take an early train from Manchester Victoria. As a student, getting up early is not my strongest suit and with my train departing just after 7am I decided to take a taxi to the station, already eating into my student budget by £5.

Train tickets to Bradford only set me back £9.20, and with my Greggs coffee in hand, I made my way to the platform to begin the hour train ride back home. I am lucky enough to live just over an hour away, making it cheap and fast for me to vote back home.

However according to a Which survey more than 40 per cent of UK students live two hours away from their family home. This could make it difficult for students to vote without a postal or proxy vote already prearranged.

Arriving in Bradford, I began phase two of my quest and took the bus to my polling station. Another £5 down, I set off. 25 minutes later I arrived at my destination. 3 hours later, £20 spent and a vote cast. It was now time to head back to Salford to see how my fellow students voting had compared.

For them, it was quicker and it was cheaper, but voting at home in my first ever General Election was worth the effort.

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