Message to PM: Go now

WINNER . . . Labour's Jim McMahon with partner Charlene Duerden

THERESA May "set communities against communities" and should resign as Prime Minister.

That's the view of Jim McMahon,who was re-elected as MP for Oldham West and Royton in yesterday's General Election.

The results were officially declared shortly after 3.30am, with Mr McMahon receiving 29,846 votes, increasing his majority to 17,198.

The turnout in the constituency was 63.38 per cent, compared with 59.6 per cent in the 2015 General Election and 40.3 per cent in the December by-election.

Veteran MP Michael Meacher comfortably retained his Oldham West and Royton seat with a whopping 14,738 majority, but he died after a long illness in October that year, triggering a by-election.

Mr McMahon, then Oldham Council leader, stood as the Labour candidate in the by-election in the following December and was voted in with 17,209 votes.

Last night, he said: "I see how hard our volunteers have worked. They've worked day in, day out, many of them fasting over Ramadan, but still finding the energy to come out and campaign for Labour.

"You can't stand on the stage and claim the victory as your's - your name is on the ballot paper, but the team behind you has done the groundwork.

"I will use this to get a good deal for Oldham, to make sure Oldham gets its fair share.

"For too long Oldhamers have been told that this is as good as its gonna get and it's just the way it's going to be ­- and we're not going to take that anymore. It's about time the investment came into Oldham."

At the time of Oldham West's results being announced, Labour was doing much better than expected nationally and the Conservatives doing worse than expected.

When asked if Theresa May should resign, Mr McMahon said: "I would have called on Theresa May to resign weeks ago. I think she's useless as a Prime Minister. Her negotiating stance with Brexit has been poor. The idea that you can be aggressive to our partners in Europe is damaging to our country.

"Her arrogance in her manifesto, where she set communities against communities, was very poor.

"Her arrogance where she went after pensioners thinking they were in the bag and they were going to back her was very poor. I think her neglect of young people was very poor.

"I think her arrogance not to appear on TV debates was very poor. And, in the middle of all that, Jeremy Corbyn comes right through and says, actually, the public deserves better than that.

"So we had a manifesto that was very bold and I believe the manifesto would fundamentally change the shape of the country if we had the opportunity to implement it. But, more than that, he showed what leadership is - actually standing there, being there and being counted - and Theresa May failed.

"Tonight is staggering, isn't it? There is no doubt Theresa May has done exactly the same as David Cameron.

"When David Cameron called the European Referendum he was putting his party ahead of the country. When Theresa May called this election she put the party ahead of the country too.

"The truth is she couldn't martial her own MPs to back her plan because they want a very hard Brexit."

Mr McMahon said it was too early to say what this meant for the Labour Party nationally, but he said the party had exceeded expectations.

On the doorstep, he said people expressed feeling left behind and they wanted an alternative, which he believes Labour has offered to voters.

"We're going to set a radical alternative for a different kind of Britain," he said.

"And do you know what, people might say, you're not going to achieve that and where's the money going to come from? But even if we achieved only 80 per cent of our manifesto the country would be a better place, a fairer place, a more equal place than it is today. It would change the lives of people in Oldham and that's why I'm in politics."

Less than 12 months ago, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn could not win a vote of confidence from his own MPs. He was written off at the start of the General Election campaign, with pollsters predicting he would lead Labour to a historic landslide defeat.

Mr McMahon said: "The test of any leader is at the ballot box and Jeremy has been supported there, far better than many had hoped. He has the right to own the result."

Councillor Garth Harkness, who stood as the Lib Dem candidate, came fourth with 1,899 votes.

He said: "Locally, it's been a bit of a Tory and Labour fit. We've been squeezed a little bit."