DARWEN parliamentary hopeful Will Straw welcomed the Shadow Health Minister, Andrew Gwynne, to the town as part of a nationwide campaign by the Labour Party.

Mr Straw, prospective parliamentary candidate for Darwen and Rossendale in 2015, was also joined by more than 30 Labour councillors and activists for the #CostofCameron day. They also campaigned in Rawtenstall.

Mr Straw, son of Blackburn MP Jack, said: “Working people in the North West are now, on average, £1,750 a year worse off since David Cameron came to office. During this period, we have seen wages stagnating while the cost of living keeps increasing. People seemed angry and concerned by rising energy prices. It cannot be right that companies which report multi-billion pound profits are able to increase their prices so rapidly.

“A big thank-you to both Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, and his wife Allison, a councillor in Denton, for joining us.”