A new independent survey of Bury and Britain has confirmed that the cost of living and the NHS are our two biggest concerns.

Seven in 10 of us are under enormous cost of living pressures and almost half of us remain concerned by the state of the NHS having have had difficulty getting a GP appointment or hours waiting in A&E.

A brilliant volunteer I work with endured a 28 hour wait at Fairfield.

The advocacy group 38 Degrees set out to highlight the priorities of voters in every single seat across Britain, with their new constituency boundaries.

At the general election on the horizon, Bury North will include Radcliffe North and Ainsworth.

The results of the 10,000 strong survey of UK residents aged 18 and above paints a vivid picture of a town and country yearning for change, grappling with twin crises that loom large in our everyday life: the escalating cost of living and the state of our NHS.

Although tempting to say they could have saved their money; because I’d have told them this for free from my door knocking and the hundreds of conversations I'm having or my own household budget, it delves into the prevailing mood of the nation.

Finding that the cost of living crisis manifests differently for individuals in Bury North: a mere six per cent feel well-off, unaffected by financial concerns whilst a whopping 61 per cent are either worried about their financial future or cannot afford life’s luxuries at the moment.

Alarmingly nearly one in five of us are unable to afford necessities such as food, rent, or mortgage repayments.

The cost of living crisis is impacting on everything.

Everyday life sees the frequent tightening of the financial belt with 61 per cent of us making cutbacks in a town still facing a budget meltdown from the Tories wrecking the economy.

Access to GP services is a vital indicator of healthcare satisfaction. In Bury North 56 per cent of us struggled to secure a GP appointment in the last six months. As we enter winter, this is surely set to worsen?

Among those most concerned about the NHS, the top priorities include reducing waiting times for operations and procedures, accessing GP appointments and decreasing A&E waiting times.

Labour will invest an extra £1.1bn to help the NHS beat the backlog, with extra clinics at evenings and weekends. We’ll provided two million more appointments each year and faster treatment for patients with extra pay for staff.

We’ll pay for this first step addressing the Tories NHS crisis by abolishing the non-dom tax status, because patients need treatment more than the wealthiest need a tax break.

These stats lay bare the economic and health disparities that exist across Bury, where we now have child poverty rate of 40 per cent, and underpins a yearning for change. For change you can trust.

James Frith is the Labour Candidate for the General Election. He served as MP for Bury North between 2017-19 and hopes to again. He tweets @JamesFrith Contact James@JamesFrithForBuryNorth.com