Following his comprehensive victory in the Preston constituency, Sir Mark Hendrick addressed the crowd as well as send a message to the people of Preston.
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00:00Voters of Preston, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the returning officer,
00:09the council staff and counting agents, and the police, in particular Michelle, for keeping
00:15the order of this count. I'd first of all like to thank my agent Matthew Farnworth for
00:20taking on the responsibilities that come with being the agent, and Labour Party members
00:26who have spent days and nights campaigning and delivering leaflets and working hard in
00:31Preston. I would also like to thank my wife Jenna, who unfortunately can't be with us
00:37tonight, who has given me total support through what has been a very difficult five years
00:42since the last general election in 2019, with endless late night sittings in Westminster,
00:49as well as the rigours of this general election. But most of all I would like to thank the
00:54people of Preston who have supported me not only in this election, but in the seven previous
01:00parliamentary elections when I have stood here in Preston. I'm now in my 24th year
01:07as your MP, and I'm honoured to have retained that trust throughout ten good years of Labour
01:13government, but after 14 years of Conservative rule they have become the bad years. The cost
01:19of living crisis, the effects of Brexit, cuts to our NHS, local government, schools
01:27and other public services have been a disgrace. A quarter of children in the UK are living
01:33in poverty, and 40% of the kids in Preston are suffering in poverty too. Universal credit,
01:41zero hours contracts are driving people to poverty, and the growth of food banks around
01:47the city of Preston is a testament of what's been done to this wonderful city. We have
01:53a government that has been heartless, cruel, and for most of the Prime Ministers and other
01:59Ministers, total strangers to the truth. The government is a government of right-wing extremists
02:07dragging us away, unceremoniously, from what should be a kinder and compassionate society.
02:14Hopefully, after tonight, they'll all be gone, and hopefully after tonight, or this
02:19morning as we are now, there'll be a new government, and a government which is about change and
02:25making people's lives in this country better for as many people as we possibly can. Thank
02:31you very much for your support, the people of Preston, and I look forward to spending
02:35the next term working my hardest, as hard as I can, for the people who have elected
02:41me and for those who have not supported me this time, but I do my best for everybody,
02:47whether you're a supporter or not. Thank you very much indeed.