Lancashire's MPs reflect 12 months on from General Election
'Very special'
Of the new Labour MPs, Maya Ellis is among those who comes from no political background.A mum of two young children, she described her victory over veteran MP Nigel Evans, who held the seat since 1992, as "a whirlwind".Of her first days at Westminster she said: "It's like starting high school, it's quite big and different, but you know you're meant to be there, it did feel very special."As an MP the business of work starts straight away, not just in Parliament, but in the constituencies as well.She said: "There are lots of different issues and one of the biggest challenges is, you want to support with every single one."I was surprised how many people come to their MP for help. That's a great thing because that means more people are engaged with democracy."On a national level Labour has had a tumultuous 12 months, with recent u-turns on winter fuel payments and its Welfare Reform Bill, as well as having an MP leave to start their own party.Despite this, Maya Ellis said: "I have complete faith in Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer that they are doing everything they possibly can in making the brave, scary, decisions that are difficult to get us to a better place."
'Fortress Fylde'
It is not just Labour that has had a tough 12 months.First being turfed out of office and reduced to their fewest MPs ever, the Conservatives might be wondering what went wrong for them.Down to just one MP in Lancashire, it has been up to Andrew Snowden, who represents the Fylde to carry the flag.He joked: "We nickname it fortress Fylde, in the sense that it's the last place standing after the battlefield, which was a really sad and difficult night for the Conservative party."It is an odd feeling being the only Conservative for miles in any direction, but I'm proud to be flying the blue flag."Formally the Police and Crime Commissioner for the county, he said: "As police commissioner I was in charge of a £300m odd budget, 6,000 staff, you could immediately go and ask for things to be done, as an MP it's completely different."The Conservatives also lost control of Lancashire County Council to Reform in May's local elections.He said: "There's been a lot of anger at mainstream politics and Reform are offering very easy, very magic wand answers to complex questions, we shall see whether those magic answers to complex questions exist."He believes that to win voters back, the Conservatives have to be "the serious party" that is "sound on the economy" but that also stands up for British values.
'Make a difference'
Lancashire also has an elected Independent MP in Adnan Hussain.He ran against the Labour incumbent Kate Hollern on a Gaza ticket and won by 123 votes.Despite being an independent with no party behind him, he believes he can "make a difference".Since being elected he says he dealt with "thousands of cases" and said: "My genuine aim is to help people because the MP's office is for many the last resort."When it comes to voting, he said: "I'm thinking about what Blackburn would want me to do and not what some mainstream party will tell me to do, I'm trying my level best to vote with my conscience."
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