Passion to make Oldham better

Jim McMahon

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LABOUR’S Oldham West and Royton by-election candidate Jim McMahon says running for Parliament was a “very difficult emotional decision” but the best way to serve his hometown.

In an exclusive interview with the Chronicle yesterday, Councillor McMahon opened up about his reasons for deciding to stand in the by-election on December 3.

Oldham Council leader McMahon said: “I never considered Parliament as a real option. It’s been raised before and I’ve dismissed it quite quickly because my focus has always been about Oldham.

“That’s where the conflict came because it’s the first time really where I felt it was Oldham, a part of Oldham I felt connected to and it was a parliamentary seat that hasn’t come up for 45 years.

Decision

“There definitely was a period where I had to think very carefully about it but it was a very difficult emotional decision to make because I’m absolutely connected to the council. It feels like they are my extended family, you build very close relationships.

“My considerations were, how can I best serve the town that I live in? Because I got into politics to try and make a difference, to try and make things better.

“I recognise that as a council there’s only so much we can do ourselves. Who is in government does matter. That’s why I think it’s important that you have a strong voice representing Oldham down there.”

Councillor McMahon also said he believes UKIP leader Nigel Farage knows his party have selected a “very poor” candidate in John Bickley.

Mr Farage has previously claimed that Mr McMahon was the last person Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wanted to be selected as his party’s candidate and suggested that the two are opposed on a lot of issues.

Mr McMahon said: “I can’t see that being true. Actually on quite a lot of issues where people will try and find division, Jeremy and I are completely as one.

“On austerity, he has been very clear that the cuts have gone too far and as council leader I have seen first-hand the cuts absolutely have gone too far.

“They have gone right to the bone now and people are being affected by that. It can’t be right that today people are having their working family tax credits cut at the same time that millionaires are getting tax breaks.

“So there’s quite a lot of things where, on a matter of principle, that I absolutely agree with Jeremy Corbyn and those for me are the big issues. I don’t see the divisions, I would be countering that very strongly.

“What Nigel Farage actually meant was that I was the last candidate he wanted. He knows they’ve picked a very poor candidate in John Bickley. He’s part of the UKIP parachute regiment where he gets drafted into every by-election going, it seems, and I’m pretty clear that people in Oldham have no time for that.”

Promise

UKIP’s by-election candidate said last week that he believes the £36.7million ongoing project to transform the old town hall into a cinema is the wrong use for the building and if it’s not too late the plans should be scrapped.

In response to Mr Bickley’s views, Councillor McMahon said: “I don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about John Bickley to be honest because the chances are on December 4 he will be looking for another by-election somewhere else.

“I remember standing in the Egyptian Room of the old town hall where 500 people in Oldham came to take part in the consultation and something like 98 per cent of those people said they wanted the cinema to go ahead so I’m very happy to speak for the 98 per cent if John Bickley is happy to speak for the 2 per cent.

“I wouldn’t underestimate how angry people are that somebody from out of town tried to come into Oldham and tell us that we didn’t deserve a cinema.”

Staying with the topic of regeneration, Councillor McMahon hinted that if he is elected as an MP next month he could take up a role as a “regeneration ambassador” for the town.

He said: “Regeneration isn’t job done. I think we’ve laid the foundations but there’s a long way to go.

“My promise to Oldham is I’m going to continue to be involved in that for as long as people want me to be involved in it, whether that’s as some kind of regeneration ambassador where I’m involved with flying the flag on behalf of the town to investors and developers and pension funds and people like that. This wasn’t a day job for me, this was a passion to make Oldham better.”

When asked why the people of Oldham West and Royton should vote for him, Councillor McMahon said: “If they want their MP to be somebody that’s local, of the community, who has a long-term stake in the community and will work hard to make it a better place, I’m the only candidate on the ballot paper that can do that.

“If they want someone with a track record and somebody that’s delivered for the town and somebody that has fought for investment, for jobs, for new housing, has fought for regeneration across the town that people can see, I’m the only candidate on the ballot paper that has that credibility and has that experience. More importantly, whatever happens on the fourth of December I’m going to be here either as an MP or as an Oldham resident fighting to make this town better.

“When I’m going around the constituency campaigning I’ve walked every street before. The people I’m talking to are the people I see in the supermarket, they’re the people I see in the libraries. They are a part of the community that I belong to.”