Former MP’s office closes its doors

Adam Power, John Swarbrick, Paul Rowen, Ann Walsh and Sue Etchells

Paul Rowen, the former MP for Rochdale, has today (Friday 3 September 2010) closed the doors to his office for the final time.

The office had been kept open for the statuary amount of time after the General Election. During this time staff were asked to deal with the hundreds of pieces of ongoing casework as well as many other tasks.

During the last five years Paul Rowen and his staff have helped support thousands of people with problems ranging from immigration to child support crises, as well as backing campaigns such as Save Our Hospital and No to Ding Quarry.

Mr Rowen and the rest of his team , Sue Etchells, caseworkers Ann Walsh and Sarah Glover, office manager Adam Power and researchers Kriss Payne and John Swarbrick will now be moving onto different things.

Mr Rowen’s former secretary and longest serving member of staff, Sue Etchells, said: “One of the greatest sadnesses for all of us is the splitting up of our team. We couldn’t have achieved what we have without each others’ skills and support and were all upset we will no longer be working together.

She added: “It’s been a great pleasure working for Paul. He is such a committed person and I was devastated when he lost, not just for myself but even more so for him.

Paul Rowen said: “This is a very sad day for me, especially with the news of Sir Cyril Smith passing away. It has been an honour to serve Rochdale over the last five years and I want to thank all the people who have supported me.”

He added: “It’s been an absolute pleasure to work alongside my staff. They have always gone the extra mile for me. You cannot be an MP without complete trust and faith in your office and the public don’t always realise how hard the staff here have worked.”