Bury has been named as a ‘top target’ at the next general election, as both its MPs launch campaigns to keep their seats.

The borough’s two parliamentary constituencies, Bury North and Bury South have both been named as two of the most important areas in the country for the Labour Party to secure votes.

Both constituencies voted in Conservative MPs at the 2019 general election, including Bury North’s James Daly, who beat Labour opponent James Frith by just 105 votes – making his seat the most marginal in the country.

Bury South is represented by now Labour MP Christian Wakeford, who crossed the floor in January 2022.

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To measure how well the parties do at the election, and to determine which seats they need to win to form a government, a set of notional results for the 2019 election has been calculated to show what would have happened if that contest had taken place using the new boundaries.

These notional results have been compiled by Professor Colin Rallings and Professor Michael Thrasher of the University of Plymouth, on behalf of the PA news agency, the BBC, ITN and Sky News.

The research shows that in Bury North, the Labour Party would need a 1.20% swing to gain the seat from the Conservatives. In Bury South, a swing of just 0.94%.

Following the announcement of the July 4 general election by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, both sitting MPs have launched campaigns to keep their seats when voters go to the polls in six weeks’ time.

Bury South MP Christian Wakeford told his constituents in a video message that “it’s time for change.”

He continued: “This is out change to build a better Britain and a better Bury South.

“The country wants change, families are worse off, they’re less safe and they have fewer opportunities, and we know that things can be better.

“Labour will get the NHS back on its feet, switch on great British energy, take back our streets and break down the barriers to opportunity. Its time to get our future back, its time to vote Labour.”

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Meanwhile, Conservative James Daly, who also began the party’s deputy Chairman in February this year had his own message for constituents, saying a vote for him, “was a straightforward choice.”

He said: “ For people in Bury North it’s a straightforward choice, an MP and a Conservative government that have delivery £347 million of funding to people in our area, or a Labour Party that has done nothing locally for decades upon decades.

“By electing a Conservative MP you’ve seen change, by electing a Labour MP you will go back to the old ways, blaming people, delivering nothing.

“Back me, I will continue to deliver millions of pounds to make the lives of everyone in Bury better.”