Mountaineer climbs in the polls to defeat former minister in Lancashire

Labour’s Andy MacNae has been elected as MP for Rossendale and Darwen in the general election, beating Conservative Jake Berry, who had won the previous four elections.

The results were announced early this morning in Haslingden, as dawn broke and Britain entered a new political era with Labour’s nation-wide victory.

Mr MacNae said: “I’m tired after weeks of campaigning but really excited about being elected and getting a Labour government that’s going to govern for everyone. During the campaign here, there was good engagement from people who are enthusiastic for change even though there is some public scepticism about politics.

“This is a historic result for Labour across the country. It’s an opportunity – but just an opportunity at the moment. We will need to be focused and delivering, to show that governments can actually make a positive difference.”

Jake Berry’s votes fell from over 27,000 in the last election to over 12,000 yesterday. His time as an MP for Rossendale has spanned the modern Conservative government era which began in 2010 with David Cameron and then led to Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak as prime ministers. But that has now ended.

He has been associated with Conservative government projects including the Northern Powerhouse, Levelling-Up and town deals. He did not speak to the press during the count in Haslingden or from the platform at the declaration.

REFORM UK

Reform UK candidate Daniel Matchett, from Darwen, gained over 9,000 votes. He works as a mental health nurse in a Blackburn hospital. In the past he was a lecturer for the University of Cumbria. He said Conservative government lock-down restrictions in the pandemic spurred him to stand.

He said: “The lock-down restrictions seriously impacted on our society, especially young people and people needing face-to-face health care. People were stuck at home for so long. When one of the later lock downs was on the cards, I wrote a long email to Jake Berry and said I’d become an opponent if he voted in favour of another lock down. I’d stand against him. So that’s what I did.

“I want to beat the Conservatives. I want to knock them off their perch. So many of their policies and decisions contradict what are supposed to be conservative principles, such as minimal state interference. We endured the lock-downs for so long. The government should have trusted the public more.

“In some ways I consider myself centre-left in the political spectrum. I voted for Labour various times in the past and once I voted Conservative. Working in the health sector, which is generally left wing, I’m probably seen as a bit of an outsider politically for standing for Reform. But in fact, Reform supporters come from all sorts of backgrounds including doctors, nurses, builders and teachers.

“We are challenging the big parties. This is a ‘people’s rising’ in a way. It’s not true that we are extreme right-wingers or racists. We’ve been misrepresented in the media because of a few extreme members.

“At first in this campaign, I’d have been happy to keep my deposit by getting five per cent of the vote tonight. But we’ve grown so much recently, we want to stand for local elections and build our political presence at all levels. We’ll be back whatever happens. These are exciting and fascinating times.”

READ MORE: Rossendale and Darwen General Election full result

WORKERS PARTY

Workers Party candidate Tayab Ali, an IT engineer from Rawtenstall, said food banks, falling wages, rising prices and concerns about the NHS made him enter politics.

He said: “I moved to this country aged three. I’m fighting for all the ordinary working people here, whatever the colour of their skin.

“Britain has got worse over the past 14 years. Everybody is struggling. Even if you earn a reasonable wage, there’s nothing left to save because of rising costs. Britain deserves better. We want to ease the burdens on people. The middle class has been eroded too. The vast majority of people are worse-off.

“You can’t see a doctor or a nurse in hospital like you cold in the 1980s. There’s not enough medical staff and delays everywhere. Privatisation of public services here is getting like America. There, if you become ill and fall down, the first thing you’re asked is do you have a credit card.

“Old people are suffering at home, cold in the winter, while millions of pounds are spent on wars overseas. There are food banks everywhere. They didn’t exist 14 years ago

“And the country’s infrastructure here is crumbling, the roads, the railways, schools, hospitals.”

GREEN PARTY

Green Party candidate Bob Bauld has run a number of businesses in the Rossendale area, mainly in property renovation but also B&Bs, a gallery and selling Persian rugs. He was elected as a councillor to Rossendale Council in May this year, one of a trio of Greens including Julie Adshead.

He said: “I’m a bit of a rebel, an anarchist. I want to create change. I’m involved with the council and want to see if I can get things done.

“I first became involved in Green politics in Scotland in 2007. When I moved back to northern England, Julie Adshead in Rossendale had left the Labour Party and joined the Greens. I agreed with her politics and got involved with her and the Green Party. I want change.

“This general election campaign has been eerily quiet. There has been no hustings. I wanted some debate but there’s been nothing. The big parties have been silent. They’re not interested in the big issues or smaller parties. There’s been nothing from them about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza or climate change. They’re just interested in administrating the big system.

“George Orwell wrote about poverty and terrible housing conditions in The Road To Wigan Pier. We’re now 100 years or so on from that yet we have the modern equivalents of those problems. Britain’s in a terrible state. But the Green Party is developing things for the future, for our grandchildren. We’ve had a good response locally and we’ll keep on building.”

ANDY MACNAE BACKGROUND

Andy MacNae was a Rossendale Labour councillor for the Irwell ward until the last election. He first put his name forward as a potential Westminster candidate in 2013. But Will Straw, son of former Blackburn Labour MP Jack Straw, was chosen at the time. Then a series of women-only selections took place for the seat. But then he was selected for the 2024 general election.

He was born in southern England but moved with his family to Scotland, later Manchester and Cheshire. He studied at university in London then Leeds. He became a keen climber and later worked for the British Mountaineering Council in Manchester. He worked and climbed with world-renowned mountaineer Chris Bonington and Mick Fowler, a top Himalayan climber

He arrived in Rossendale in 2004 and became a councillor in 2011. In Rossendale, he first worked in business advice then set up his own regeneration business with a focus on outdoor adventures and sports. Cycling is a big interest. He is a trustee director of Cycling UK and helped develop Rossendale’s Lee and Cragg Quarry bike circuits.

As a borough councillor, his activities included roles in the Bacup Townscape Heritage Initiative, which included building restorations, public space improvements, skills, business and regeneration activity. Other council projects included Rawtenstall’s new town square and the Rossendale Works jobs service. He was a council cabinet member with a remit for regeneration, leisure and tourism for four years.

JAKE BERRY BACKGROUND

Jake Berry has had a high profile over the years and is a former Conservative Party chairman. He had been elected four times up to this year. From TV appearances and social media videos, to accusations and statements made at Westminster, he has often made the news.

In recent months, he was involved in accusations and questions raised at Westminster regarding Rossendale Council, Rossendale Leisure Trust, which runs leisure and sport facilities, and the former Lancashire Empty Homes Programme, which ran into trouble in 2015. He also raised accusations of a ‘gagging order’ on Rossendale councillors and a ‘£12million fraud’.

Rossendale Council strongly rejected the claims. It said proper council procedures were followed in all the different matters including a police investigating the Empty Homes scheme. The council also called on Mr Berry to end his accusations and correct what he had said in Parliament.

Locally, Conservative councillors made various accusations at Rossendale Council meetings too. Their targets included Labour’s Andy MacNae, who also strongly rejected the accusations. From the late 2010s to 2022, Jake Berry had government roles in the Cabinet Office and the departments for business, energy and industrial strategy, communities, housing and local government.

He spoke in recent months of his pride in government-backed Rossendale town centre and market upgrades. He emphasised that millions of pounds in Levelling-Up funds had gone to Rossendale schemes. He had been a Northern Powerhouse minister and introduced town boards which created new relationships between the council, MPs and government.