My 5 years at Westminster were dominated by Brexit paralysis

After five years in Westminster, Liz McInnes is finding joy in getting stuck into her role as a local councillor.

The former MP for Heywood and Middleton never planned to enter parliament and ended up at the House of Commons almost by accident after a whirlwind six weeks of campaigning.

Being a Labour MP sometimes felt ‘remote’ and parliament was ‘paralysed’ for much of her five-year term after the Brexit referendum, she said. Being Lead Member for Communities, Housing Health and Well-being is much more ‘satisfying’ she says.

Looking back, Liz said: “My five years at Westminster were dominated by Brexit. It was Brexit paralysis. I went through four elections in that period. If I’d been re-elected in 2019, I’d have carried on. But would I like to go back to Westminster in future? No. And I don’t want to see another referendum in my life.

“Westminster was exhausting. But it also gave me some perspective on things. I felt the time had come for a younger person to stand. Some MPs stay in politics to a great old age. But I wanted to retire and do some other things.

“What I enjoy most about politics is knocking on doors and speaking to people. According to many newspapers and social media, ‘people hate the government’ and ‘Keir Starmer’s so unpopular’. And TV journalism is so confrontational. But in reality, most people are much more switched-on and nuanced.

“Being a councillor is very immediate, which I like. We make decisions and see outcomes quite quickly. And councillors have quite a lot of independence. However, MPs legislate, generally follow the party line and have staff doing lots of work. MPs represent huge numbers of people and make decisions for the country rather than a local area.

“An MP’s role can feel quite remote. I like talking to people and sorting problems myself.”

In Rossendale, the opening of a new dental surgery and a health hub in recent decades are important ‘tangible benefits’ from politics which have inspired her. Hospital trade union activity was a key influence in her political journey.

Liz McInnes grew up in Oldham, the fifth of eight children. Her dad was a sheet-metal worker and her mum had various jobs ranging from factory work to running a pub. She said: “We were just an ordinary working class family, apart from there were eight kids. We lived in the Glodwick area and Alexandra Park was our playground.”

She attended the former Hathershaw Comprehensive School and her older brother obtained a scholarship to Manchester Grammar School, from where he went on to Oxford. She recalled: “One day, a teacher at Hathershaw suggested I should sit the Oxford University exams.

“It had never occurred to me. But the teacher really encouraged me. I sat the exams and got in to Oxford to study biochemistry. I went to St Anne’s College which at the time was all women. For a working class kid from Oldham, it was quite a culture shock. But I settled, made lifelong friends and I’m very grateful for the opportunities it gave me.”

After university, she started work in hospital laboratories. “I always wanted to work in the health service. I worked in Greenwich Hospital, London; then Sheffield. Later I went to North Manchester Hospital and it was nice to come back home. Then I worked at the Royal Oldham Hospital following a merger of pathology services.”

Through work, she became active in the Unite trade union. “My involvement in politics grew in the health service. Staff were doing their best and what they were qualified for – helping patients.

But in the background there was always something going on, hospital mergers or a new way of working. There was constant background change and political decisions being made. I became a union representative in the lab where I worked

“I was involved with staff terms and conditions but union activity just grew. I ended-up chairing Unite’s national heath sector committee. I remember politicians like Andy Burnham and Andrew Gwynne, the Denton MP, coming to meetings.”

Liz’s first experience of being elected was to Rossendale Council in 2010 representing Longholme. But then a move into Westminster politics came unexpectedly in 2014, when Heywood & Middleton MP Jim Dobbin died suddenly and brought a by-election.

Liz said: “Unite wanted its members to be involved in politics and encouraged me to stand for parliament. When Heywood & Middleton came up, albeit in sad circumstances, it was the next door constituency to me and an area I know well from living in Middleton for over a decade. Jim Dobbin had also been very supportive of the NHS and Unite.

“After a few days, I got a text from the Hyndburn MP Graham Jones, saying I should think about standing. I applied, was short-listed and finally selected in a very close competition. Then came a whirlwind with six weeks of campaigning

“Ed Milband was the Labour leader and loads of people came to help. UKIP was the main challenger. At times, it was quite unpleasant with personal attacks but you’ve got to be prepared for that.

The attacks were as bad then as now. Social media was pretty well-developed in 2014. But I won with a majority of 617 votes. UKIP were upset they didn’t win. They said they could have won if they’d had another week’s campaigning. They came over as bad losers.”

Once at Westminster with Labour in opposition, Liz joined Labour’s shadow local government team. It included MP Paula Sherriff of Dewsbury, who also campaigned against the ‘tampon tax’.

Liz also knew former Oldham West MP Michael Meacher before his death in 2015. She said: “He was part of the fabric of Oldham. It was a privilege to have him as a colleague for a while. When news came he had died, I was about to give a speech in parliament. It was a shock. I didn’t know he was ill. He’d kept it quiet. But I had to get on with speaking and sadly that’s part of the job sometimes.”

The next year brought the 2015 UK general election, won by David Cameron’s Conservatives. Liz retained the Heywood & Middleton seat and re-established a 5,299 majority. She said: “A lot of people said they’d voted UKIP in the 2014 by-election as a protest. But in 2015, they said they knew the consequences of not voting Labour. That was good to hear.”

Then came the Theresa May and Boris Johnson governments, with general elections in 2017 and 2019. Comedian Eddie Izzard helped Liz during the 2019 campaign. She said: “I’ll always remember it. Eddie was great talking to people on the doorsteps.”

But in 2019, Heywood & Middleton was won by Conservative Chris Clarkson. a former Salford councillor. Today, Labour’s Elsie Blundell is the MP for the new constituency of Heywood & Middleton North.

Liz was re-elected to Longholme in the 2022 local elections.

Asked about her influences, Liz said: “I was a fan of the former Rossendale MP Janet Anderson. Earlier in her life, she worked for Barbara Castle who was a high-profile woman in politics at a time when there weren’t many women politicians. Barbara Castle was behind things like car seat belts, alcohol breathalysers and the Equal Pay Act. She inspired quite a few people, a bit like Angela Rayner today. People relate to them.

“Janet Anderson was very relatable and grounded to this area. She got an NHS dental clinic opened on Burnley Road in Rawtenstall. I remember the excitement when it opened. We were really struggling for dentists at the time. There was a queue of patients to register and I was one of them. I’m still a patient there.

“Janet Anderson was also influential in the Rossendale Health Centre on Bacup Road. In an area like this without a hospital, it’s really important for people to be able to get diagnostic tests. These are tangible achievements.”

In her free time, Liz is involved with Civic Pride Rossendale and the Friends of Whitaker Park. She is learning French and helps at running events. Her partner, Steve Duxbury, is chairman of Rossendale Harriers running club.

She is also a council food champion and involved with food banks. She said: “I’d love to see the day when the need for food banks has gone. Every town now has numerous food banks and some have volunteer shortages.

“I’m also concerned that supermarkets have become reliant upon food banks to get rid of waste food. A whole system has been created. We will never truly level-up until the need for food banks has gone. “