Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Barrow and Furness says the role has given her the ‘opportunity to help residents and businesses on a bigger scale’.

Michelle Scrogham has spoken about her first year as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Barrow and Furness.

Ms Scrogham said: “Being Labours Parliamentary Candidate for Barrow and Furness has given me the opportunity to help residents and businesses on a bigger scale. I’ve visited businesses, Furness General Hospital, schools and community groups to talk about the problems they face and how difficult things have become for them.

“One of my first meetings was discussing problems that the NHS faces locally, and almost every issue was caused by a lack of social care. The hollowing out of this service over the past decade has impacted not only people’s health, but our hospitals having to provide additional services, meaning their costs skyrocket. It’s the same with everything in life, if the foundations are poor, nothing above is safe.”

“People are happy to hear that I’m local, that I understand this unique area and have a history of backing our communities for three decades, not just prior to an election.”

Ms Scrogham spoke of the challenges facing the area and other parts of the country.

She said: “The challenges for Barrow and Furness are similar to many other towns and villages. Our high streets have been decimated, public transport stripped bare, anti-social behaviour is on the rise and many people are struggling to pay their bills. The next Labour Government will scrap the unfair business rates system and give powers to local councils to take back control of empty stores, avoiding the exodus we’ve seen on Portland Walk and Dalton Road in recent years.”

Ms Scrogham will replace the previous parliamentary candidate Chris Altree, who received 18,087 votes in 2019, an equivalent of 39.3 per cent of the vote which represented an 8.2 per cent loss on the previous general election.