Oldham MP 'honoured' at prestigious award nomination

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams has been nominated for the MP of the Year Award 2019.

The awards - which will take place in December at the Speaker’s House in the House of Commons and are organised by the Patchwork Foundation - celebrate the work of MPs from across the country who actively work with underrepresented and disadvantaged communities across the UK.

Mrs Abrahams said: “I’m so honoured to be nominated for this award.

"The fact that my name’s been put forward by my own constituents shows that the work I’m doing is valued and makes a difference to people’s lives.”

The work that the local MP has been nominated covers three areas: supporting disabled people, including her work in promoting a dementia-friendly Oldham and UK; tackling inequalities and bringing communities together, including her annual ‘Working for your community’ summer school for young people which has been running for six years; and her award-winning Be Fair - Pay on Time late payments campaign supporting small businesses.

Mrs Abrahams added: “These are just a few of my local priorities but they demonstrate that whatever issues I find myself dealing with in Oldham East and Saddleworth I know I can use them to demonstrate the need to tackle the same issues on a national basis.

“Changing attitudes to disabilities including dementia, ending the scourge of late payments, and bringing young people together from across Oldham and Saddleworth so they can support community action, are issues we can all relate to up and down the UK.

"And if I win the MP of the Year award I hope I can use the platform to make even more in-roads into tackling these issues both locally and nationally."

The Patchwork Foundation created the awards to promote and highlight best practice of MPs across the country who work closely with diverse communities. 

The MPs are nominated by members of the public or grassroots community organisations and selected by an independent panel of judges who look for evidence of MPs delivering excellent representation and coverage to otherwise underrepresented sectors of society.

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