Why I’m your man

Oldham West and Royton Conservative candidate James Daly

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Oldham West and Royton Conservative candidate James Daly

“IF YOU want an MP that believes Oldham is a great place but can be even better, then I’m your man”, says Conservative Oldham West and Royton by-election candidate James Daly.

Mr Daly, a 39-year-old criminal defence solicitor and Bury councillor who has lived and worked in the North-West for 14 years, came into the Chronicle offices for an exclusive interview.

He opened up, telling a heartfelt story of a young man he represented as a solicitor and inspired him to get into politics.

Mr Daly said: “I represented a young man, who I have represented for a long time, called Matthew. I was in court with him at Bury youth court when he was 14. This was a young boy who had two parents with substance abuse problems, he’d very rarely been to school, he had no guidance in his life and lived essentially in squalor.

“I was in court and I was trying my best to represent him but then he stood up; with no education at 14 years of age and he spoke better than me.

“He was a better advocate and understood more about human emotion and how to express it and his hopes and fears. I just looked at him and thought, that can not be fair.”

It isn’t right that you with all that potential inside you, with all that you’ve got to offer the world that, because of circumstances out of your control, you’re not having a fair shot at life.

“I genuinely felt from that moment that I want to get into politics because I want to make sure that people like Matthew have the chance to be something.

“When the opportunity to stand for parliament in a constituency like this comes up I would hope that anybody who thinks like me would think it’s a fantastic opportunity to help people. There can’t be many better things to do in life than that.”

Mr Daly stressed throughout the interview that now is time for change in Oldham and he has set out a three-point plan which he believes will help him do that.

The plan sees a focus on cleaning up the streets, tackling crime and anti-social behaviour and improving public transport and investment.

Mr Daly said: “The plan focusses on issues which affect the everyday lives of people in Oldham, Chadderton and Royton. One of the messages I get from knocking on people’s doors is that they feel this town has been left behind.

“They feel this town is being ignored and it has been extremely badly run politically by the Labour party over the last 30-40 years.

“The ordinary things that affect their lives are being ignored.

“I think the vision I’m putting forward makes sure people who feel that fly-tipping, who feel that littering, who feel that anti-social behaviour affect their lives every single day will be listened to.”

Something pointed out by Labour candidate and Oldham Council leader Jim McMahon is that the borough is struggling due to the amount of cuts imposed on the council’s budget by central government.

However, Mr Daly said it’s a flawed argument from Labour who, he says, crashed the economy.

Mr Daly said: “I sit in the council chamber at Bury. Labour politicians have said to me what a great job they have done because they have maintained the level of service and the number of services even with the reduced budget they have. I congratulate them in respect of that.

“In Bury we have been able to continue to provide the same level of services even though there have been reductions in the budget. I think the bigger picture is that it’s all very well for Mr McMahon and Labour to be making these remarks. It’s a strange thing to do, they destroy the economy and then complain about a government coming in to attempt to live within our means. It’s a very strange argument to make.”

Mr Daly described the “Northern Powerhouse” as a unique opportunity for Oldham.

He said: “If I’m selected as MP I will be knocking on doors every day to get my hands on this money so Oldham gets its hands on this money.”

Mr Daly concluded by proposing why he thinks the people of Oldham West and Royton should vote for him.

He said: “If you want somebody who’s on your side, somebody who believes that you should have the best schooling, the best access to education and skills, who believes that you should have a seven-day-a-week NHS, somebody who believes that you should keep more of your money through lower taxation and somebody who will do their very best to help you no matter your background, no matter who you vote for, no matter who you are then that candidate is me.

“The job of politicians are to help people.

“They are the ladder, you then have to encourage people to climb up that ladder. Give people the opportunity to thrive, succeed and prosper.

“That’s what I’m about. If people want that type of MP who is positive, enthusiastic and believes that Oldham is a great place, but can be even better, then I’m your man.”