Yahoo News New Labour Gateshead Central and Whickham MP and Gateshead FC fan to 'support the club in any way he can'
A new Labour MP and Gateshead FC fan has said that he will 'support the club in any way he can'. Mark Ferguson attended the FA Trophy final at Wembley, and he is 'confident' that the issues involving Gateshead Council and the club can be worked through.
The Labour MP was elected in the Gateshead Central and Whickham constituency, as the count was held at the Gateshead International Stadium. Mark Ferguson won convincingly, with 18,245 votes out of just over 40,000 that voted.
His closest challenger was Damian Heslop of Reform UK, who had 8601, followed by Ron Beadle of the Liberal Democrats and Nicholas Martin Oliver of the Conservative Party, who had totals of 4987 and 4628 respectively. The Green Party also had a strong showing, with candidate Rachel Cabral picking up 3217 votes.
Read more: All the details General Election exit poll predicts Labour landslide after 14 years of Tory rule
Speaking immediately after receiving confirmation of his win, Mark Ferguson said: "It's clearly looking like a good night for Labour, and here I'm feeling a real sense of responsibility, and I feel like a great deal of trust has been placed in me.
"This is a community that means a lot to me, and I want to help rebuild the trust and integrity in our politics, as in recent years that has been really badly damaged. For me, that's the pivotal thing that needs to happen, whoever it is that you're voting for."
On the Gateshead football club, Mark said: "I'm a Gateshead fan, I was at the FA Trophy final, and I wanted to see them play in the playoffs, but it's clearly a complicated situation. I want to support the club in whatever way I can, but ultimately the right approach is for the council and the club to come together, and I'm confident that they can work through the issues."
Other party representatives also shared their thoughts on the election and their own campaigns, with Ron Beadle, Liberal Democrat candidate, saying: “I’m hoping that we will have more influence over a progressive government than we would have ever had over the Tories."
Conservative Party candidate Nicholas Martin Oliver also said: "It’s been a tough campaign, a very sudden election that I don’t think anyone was expecting."
Green Party candidate Rachel Mary Cabral added: "People believe that Green is not a waste of a vote, and we are telling Labour which way their politics should go."
