DENTON’S new MP is ready to get people talking as she looks to stop the town feeling ‘cut off.’
If that means pulling up politicians on where they are going wrong, so be it.
Hannah Spencer got down to work and met the people she now represents at the town’s Victoria Park Community Centre on Friday, March 13.
And after the big issue of the day was tackled – talking about the dogs that were also at the community café – it was on to what Denton wants and needs.
Easing the feelings of being cut off and let down by those supposedly there to fight for them are high in the agenda.
Speaking exclusively to The Correspondent, Hannah said: “Denton has been cut off quite a bit.
“Even with things like the trains. The station is a symbolic thing that says, ‘We’re not going to let you have the access that other people get to the city centre.’
“I think people really feel that here. They do feel separate and a bit left behind and that’s really important to talk about.”
Feeling cut off may one prevailing emotion but so is anger – at the way people were almost dismissed, even mocked, in the now infamous Trigger Me Timbers WhatsApp group.
Mention it on the streets and eyes narrow. A new sheriff may be in town after Green Party MP Hannah’s by-election victory, but the wounds are still open for many.
Reform UK pounced on that, unveiling candidate Matt Goodwin in the town and basing its campaign there – Hannah understands why.
She added: “It was just the icing on the cake of a political climate where politicians can’t really be trusted.
“Whether that was during Covid, with politicians who were making the rules were breaking the rules, or whether that’s just people just not showing respect for human beings.
“What’s really clear here is that people are actually very understanding. When people make mistakes, if they apologise properly and they right those wrongs, I think people are very understanding of that.
“But that’s not what’s happened. It’s confirmed what many already thought of politicians.
“Those feelings ae possibly why Reform focused on Denton. It’s important to recognise why people feel frustrated.
“People feel let down by political parties that for decades, whichever government it was, have isolated people.
“There have been a lot of broken promises and Reform did speak to that side of people’s feelings.
“But what was really interesting was we still had quite strong results here.
“We acknowledge that frustration of the difference between us and Reformers, but we are genuinely trying to find solutions – that comes from coming to things like this.
“You can’t know what people are upset about without talking to them. I know a lot of people here won’t have voted for me, and that’s OK. It’s important for me to show people that I want to work hard for them.”
Now she is in Parliament, with a majority of about 4,400, Hannah is drawing up a list of priorities, which given the whirlwind nature her life has changed is easier said than done.
But close to the top is speaking to Tameside Council and her fellow MPs in the borough, Labour’s Angela Rayner and Jonathan Reynolds.
And while it will not be an ‘us v them’ mentality, if something needs pointing out it will be.
Hannah continued: “I’ve not had a chance to do that just yet, but it’s on my list of priorities because we need to sit down and work out how we can work well together.
“I think it’s totally possible. I met Cllr Denise Ward here and I can already see we’ve got stuff in common that we want to work together on.
“You can do that and still hold each other to account. We will both do that to each other, but the council as a whole has got to find a way to work in a much more positive way for people that live here.
“Same applies to the MPs. I’ll work with people on the things I agree with them on, but I’ll hold people to account.
“We don’t think of people within boundaries. You might live in one area but go to school in another constituency.
“You might work in another constituency. Everybody moves about, so there’s definitely going to be things that we’re going to want to work on.
“And I’d like to have a meeting to find what we agree on, that we can work on, but also to make really clear that I have been elected as a different party in this area for a lot of reasons where people feel very let down by Labour.
“Whilst I’m willing to work with people, I’m also not scared to challenge people and to hold people to account.
“I think they already know that, and you can do that in a really professional and civil way. It’s not about being nasty or horrible or awful to each other
“We need more than just people who will work together. We need people who will actually call things out when it’s not going right. We see the problems and we’re finding solutions. We’re not just here to attack each other for the sake of it.
“That’s how we start to do politics better.”