General Election 2019: Labour's Sharon Hodgson defends her Wasington and Sunderland West seat

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A cloudy night at the polls for the Labour Party nationally at least had a silver lining in Sunderland as the city once again returned a trio of Labour MPs to the House of Commons.

Sharon Hodgson was the third defending Wearside MP to win on a tough night for her party which saw her vote share in Washington and Sunderland West slashed by almost 10,000.

But unlike her other two parliamentary colleagues, Bridget Phillipson and Julie Elliott, she refused to be drawn on whether the result should spell the end for Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

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“I’m not going to be drawn on that,” she said following the result, “Jeremy is our leader and he will have a lot of thinking to do and he will take his time over that.”

Sharon Hodgson speaks after successfully defending her Washington and Sunderland West seat.Sharon Hodgson speaks after successfully defending her Washington and Sunderland West seat.
Sharon Hodgson speaks after successfully defending her Washington and Sunderland West seat. | Other 3rd Party

“I don’t think we articulated our position well enough,” she added.

“I felt Jeremy was trying to straddle the 48 and the 52 per cent [who voted remain and leave in the Brexit referendum] to govern for the 99 per cent, but we have to accept that has failed.”

In the 2017 general election Hodgson held her seat with about 60 per cent of the vote, although in local elections earlier this year (2019) Labour’s hold had been cut to less than 40 per cent across the constituency’s council wards.

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And that was replicated for Labour once again, although the Conservatives made gains at the expense of other parties, particularly UKIP which polled less than 1,000 votes.

But despite a tough night which saw predictions of a Conservative government with a comfortable majority Hodgson focused on her party’s defence of its Wearside stronghold.

“Boris Johnson thought a December election would scupper us, but we’re made of sterner stuff,” she said.

“By the re-election of three Labour MPs, voters in Sunderland have shown they reject the politics of division.

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“If there is a Conservative majority I will return to Parliament as soon as it is recalled to hold the most right wing government of our time to account.”

She added: “ I will continue to defend our NHS from privatisation and from a bad trade deal with the USA and I will call for more funding for schools and emergency services and continue to be a voice for the North East.

James Harrison

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