Labour Party workers told success in Bolton is ‘essential’ for general election win

Success in Bolton’s three parliamentary seats is ‘essential’ to Labour’s chances of national election victory, party activists have been told. The party held a general election campaign launch event at the University of Bolton Business School in the town centre on Wednesday morning.

Among the guests were the incumbent MP for Bolton South & Walkden, Yasmin Qureshi, and the party’s candidates for the area’s two other Westminster seats, Phil Brickell in Bolton West and Kirith Entwistle in Bolton North East.

Two of Bolton’s seats are currently Conservative held. Chris Green has been the member for Bolton West since 2015 and, when the seat was last contested in 2019, he won by 8,855 votes, the largest majority of any Conservative MP in Greater Manchester. Other parties standing for the seat on July 4 are the Liberal Democrats, who announced Donald McIntosh as their candidate, Reform, who will have Dylan Evans standing, and the Greens who named climate campaigner Vicki Attenborough as their candidate.

READ MORE: GMP officer named and set to face court after she's charged in 'corruption' investigation

In Bolton North East, Tory Mark Logan will be hoping to defend the seat he won in 2019 with a small majority of 378. For that seat Reform’s local party leader Trevor Jones will be standing along with Liberal Democrat hopeful Rebecca Forrest.

Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi’s constituency of Bolton South & Walkden has been altered slightly since the last election by boundary changes. Declared candidates opposing her are Mohammed Afzal for the Conservatives, Liberal Democrat Gemma-Jane Bowke, Philip Kochitty for the Greens, Reform’s Julie Pattison and Jack Khan for the Workers Party.

In all three constituencies the full list of