Christopher J Furlong
Labour Party
North Middleton Ward
I feel privileged to be standing as the Labour candidate for the North Middleton ward and if successful, follow on the great work Jonathan Burns and the other Labour councillors have done for the ward.
I have lived locally for nearly twenty years working for Bibby Distribution and I am currently based on Stake Hill Industrial Estate. My wife Kerrie works in the NHS and I have two young daughters. In my spare time I am a school governor and a member of the Community First Panel. I also do fundraising for local charities such as schools, community centres and hospices and national charities such as the Parkinsons Disease Charity and Help for Heroes.
I don’t think I need to tell the electorate of North Middleton how bad this Tory Lib Dem coalition government is as they will have already been effected by rising bills, the bedroom tax, the attack on the NHS, the demonization of the disabled and the poorest members of society and the fewer child care places to name a few.
As your Labour candidate I am proud that as a party we managed to defend your services and made improvements whilst faced with the biggest cuts in this council’s history thanks to the coalition a total of £158 million. Despite this deliberately targeted and politically motivated decimation of funding your Labour council and Labour councillors have found funding for the building of new shelters at Brassey Street bowling club. We have kept open all the libraries across the borough, including the extensive refurbishment of Middleton library. We have managed to find funding for the improve disabled access to the Jubilee Road allotments. We have kept open all the Sure Start centres across the borough including Boarshaw Sure Start. We have found funding for the improvements to the entrance of Boarshaw Clough Nature reserve. We have kept open all of the community centres including Stannycliffe Social Centre. We have helped bring the Bands in the Park to Jubilee Park. There has been £72 million invested in the redevelopment of Middleton Town Centre with joint public and private initiatives such as Middleton Arena, the bus station, improving the market. All this could have only been done with a Labour council and your Labour councillors.
Your vote really does matter. Please use your vote to help me defend your services from the Tory Lib Dem coalition and continue the great work Jonathan, Alan and Pat have been doing for Middleton North.
