Meet Labour's new contender for Wigan's Makerfield seat

Now, 30-year-old Josh Simons is vying to be the next MP for the Makerfield constituency in Wigan, following the decision by sitting MP Yvonne Fovarque not to defend the seat.

A graduate of Cambridge University with a first in politics, Mr Simons went away to study at Harvard in the US after falling out with the Corbyn regime.

Perceived as one of Sir Keir’s “Starmtroopers” – the term used to describe candidates parachuted in by Labour to seats, sometimes against the wishes of local activists – Mr Simons is keen to dispel the impression he has no North West connections, in particular a “false rumour” circulating on social media that he is from Kent.

“I am absolutely not from Kent,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). “My only connection to Kent is that I have occasionally driven through it on the way to catch a ferry.”

His Jewish father is from the Prestwich and Whitefield area of Bury. After returning from the US he and his wife made their home in Rawtenstall and later in Ramsbottom.

Now married for five years, the couple have two children, one of which was born at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

He sees his mission as helping to restore Labour’s credibility as a “professionally” minded organisation and to rebuild the trust of the electorate in politics, politicians and their ability to deliver on their promises.

He said: “For me, after the experience of working in Jeremy Corbyn’s team, it was pretty obvious that the Labour Party had to be a serious professional outfit in the way that it wasn’t in that period (the Corbyn period).

“It wasn’t just the antisemitism, but it was also [the lack of] professionalism. They’d show up to work late. Shocking to me. This was the leader of the opposition’s office. People would rock up at 11 o’clock in the morning.”

Makerfield is perceived to be a pretty safe Labour seat, but Mr Simons emphasises – predictably – that there is no room for complacency ahead of the July 4 General Election.

“First of all, I don’t take anything for granted,” he said. “Makerfield has had a strong Reform and UKIP showing in the past.

“Knocking on doors, it’s quite striking, how there’s a really deep and in some ways profoundly depressing distrust of politics and politicians.

“Our country and our democracy doesn’t work unless we fix that. It’s one of the things that I care a lot about.

“Obviously, Labour’s has historically done well here, but I think it’s a real mistake for Labour or anyone not to not take seriously that deep disillusionment and malcontent with politics.

“And actually, locally we’ve got work to do to never write off voters who say they [politicians] are all the same, that there’s no difference. We have to show them that there is. Task number one for me is doing that in Makerfield.”

Mr Simons acknowledges that one of the major issues is funding for local councils and cuts to services which have been necessary during the 14 years of austerity since 2010.

He added: “For Labour to deliver the kind of change nationally that we want to deliver, is going to require people to say ‘no’. For example, on housing and planning, it’s come up while we’ve been on the doorstep.

“To build homes, you have to say to someone who doesn’t want homes to be built near them ‘I’m sorry but it’s a national priority, and although I am your MP I support this’. And that’s going to be hard for a lot of Labour MPs.

“Saying ‘no’ and explaining locally why a priority nationally is important for that community is part of a politician’s job. I’ve been meeting councillors a lot over the last couple of weeks to talk about some of the concerns that residents are raising in their wards.

“And I think it’s about the allocation of funding to different councils across England and Wales, rather than the total pot of the money that Whitehall spends.”

He points to the comparison between Wigan and Surrey over budget cuts. “The real-term funding cuts in those two areas are shockingly different [in Surrey’s favour],” he said.

“If you’re in Wigan you’re not actually arguing to increase the total sum of money the government is spending on councils, you’re arguing for the allocation of that to be fairer. I think Angela Rayner’s said this. Conservative governments want to fund Conservative areas to reward them for their loyalty and that isn’t fair.

“A Labour government needs to be looking at need, not how people in that area are going to vote.”