Luke Marsden column: Time to Make Wigan Great Again!

Friends, family and even strangers have been checking in on me since the results came in last Thursday. The UK had its own independence day and depending on your political persuasion, you either popped the champagne cork or drowned your sorrows.

Of course, turnout was lower than in previous general elections and closer to home in Wigan, nearly half of Wiganers didn’t bother to vote, this is an incredibly depressing statistic. I get that political apathy has skyrocketed over the last few years, but you cannot moan about nothing changing if you don’t have a say in who the changemaker is.

Wigan did not change who it sends to parliament, so I’m going to take this chance to not only congratulate Lisa Nandy MP on her re-election but also her new job in cabinet as the UK’s new Culture Secretary, quite the step up for our town’s MP. The Labour Party have been the ruling party in Wigan for decades with an overwhelming amount of our councillors being Labour elected ones, it is these councillors who have overseen the demolition of The Galleries and the supposed revamp of the town. I don’t want to hear any more excuses, on paper Wigan is now in the best possible position to receive help on a national level and have the political backing to get stuff done. To hijack a phrase from a former (and potential future) American President, it is time to Make Wigan Great Again.

I’ve been a strong voice for what’s happened to our town over the last few years, I’m incredibly sceptical over its future, only visiting the town centre last week, I saw more closed shops, more homelessness and a feeling of it needing help. Sir Kier’s new landslide victory should pave the way for that help and let’s be honest, Wigan and plenty more towns across the country desperately need it. The honeymoon period for our new government is now but let’s keep our fingers crossed that the sun begins to shine across our town once again, sooner rather than later!