"Labour Have Taken Our Votes For Granted"

When I speak to people in North Durham, there are a few things that are repeated time after time. The most common of these is a complaint that Labour have taken our votes for granted for too long.

There is a real belief that the local Labour elite have become complacent and arrogant. Local people are sick and tired of being taken for granted by the Labour Party.

Take the residents of Urpeth rightoly disgusted about their local park being sold by the Council, meaning there will be no local play area. Or the people throughout North Durham who have been subjected to inflation busting Council Tax rises and still see their services being cut back. Or the local people afraid to go to their local high street after dark. because of Police cut backs and record local rates of anti social behaviour.

The fact is simple. A Labour elite has governed the North East for so long that it has become tired, complacent and arrogant. They have ceased to care about local people or be responsive to local concerns. They have taken North Eastern votes for granted for much too long.

That is why North Durham needs an MP who is passionate about the local area; who will listen to local people and stand up for local people; and who is independent of the party machine that has taken local people for granted for much too long.