Sport: Team GB and ParalympicsGB

Debate between Michael Wheeler and Caroline Nokes

Thursday 10th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Michael Wheeler (Worsley and Eccles) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Part of me was worried that I might never be called to make my maiden speech in this Chamber, following my assertion to Mr Speaker that Eccles cakes were far superior to Chorley cakes. However, it is my sincerest hope that our mutual appreciation of Vimto will bridge any divide that exists. I am pleased to be following an excellent and educational maiden speech from my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Chris Bloore). I think he will find that some of the rules he was given for his maiden speech might be reflected in mine.

I must start by recording my thanks to my predecessor, Baroness Keeley of Worsley. Barbara served the people of Worsley and Eccles South and, before that, Worsley with commitment and in the true spirit of public service. She was never afraid to stand by those who put her in this place, an example that I intend to follow. I am sure she will be remembered for her steadfast and tenacious support for carers and their rights, work that I have no doubt she will continue in the other place.

I also pay tribute to my family: their contribution to my work in this House for my constituents might go unnoticed by the wider world, but it will never go unappreciated by me. Any success I achieve is because I am the man my mum and dad made, and because of the foundation of love my wife and son give me every single day.

I now turn to my constituency of Worsley and Eccles, a community that I am genuinely fortunate to represent. While it forms part of the wider urban area of Greater Manchester, the towns that make it up have proud histories all of their own. The industrial heritage of Worsley and Barton is on clear display to all who visit in the shape of our mills and canals, one of which is famously orange—when I was a child, I was convinced it was filled with Irn-Bru. Eccles gave the world the aforementioned Eccles cake, as well as the Eccles protector lamp, a proud symbol of our mining past that saved countless lives down in the dark on the coalface. Astley is home to the Lancashire Mining Museum, which houses the largest surviving functional winding engine in the world, and is entirely run by fantastic volunteers who make a mean cup of tea on top of everything else.

Irlam and Cadishead lie between the banks of the Manchester ship canal and our beautiful and precious mossland, bringing together the urban and rural—the industrial and agricultural—in a way that must be preserved and protected. Boothstown and Ellenbrook are home to the Royal Agricultural Society’s fifth garden, RHS Bridgewater, which is well worth a visit for anyone passing our way, and Swinton is the home of L. S. Lowry, who as an artist did so much to illustrate the lives of ordinary working people.

But while a community might be shaped by its place, it is formed of its people, and I truly represent the best: never afraid to tell you what they think, sometimes at length and sometimes at loud volumes, but often with a “thanks for listening” at the end of it all. More than anything, it is the generosity of spirit so often on display that sets me back and gives me pause for thought. I have been fortunate enough to meet and speak with so many people who give so much of themselves and their time for the benefit of others. They include the inspirational volunteers working on the Salford Families in Need Meals Project, who take the time to not only source, pack and distribute food, but provide recipes for families to go with it; Val and her team, who run a support group for their peers suffering from fibromyalgia; Anna Barrow and her husband Martyn, who have spoken out about the life-changing effect that motor neurone disease has had on her life, and whose indomitable spirit and humour will forever leave a mark on me; Barbara, who organises a supper club with bingo and a quiz for older residents and carers on her estate, from which I have been retired as the worst bingo caller in the world; the young people of Salford Youth Services Nerd Club, who happily accepted me as one of their own; and all those involved in grassroots sport right across my community. From Eccles rugby football club to Winton Wanderers and so many others, the good they do for our young people is immeasurable.

I am proud to call this community my home, and even prouder that its people have chosen me as their representative. I will always work to deliver for them and in their interests. However, should I fail in that duty, I hope it is a measure of reassurance for them to know that one among them will always be able to bring me to task: my mum. It is a particular kind of privilege and terror to have your own mum as your constituent.

Like a number of my hon. Friends, I have spent most of my working life fighting for working people as a trade unionist. I have worked for the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers trade union, campaigning on behalf of some of the lowest paid and least secure in our economy, and that experience has left an indelible mark on me. I have come to this place excited to be part of the change that those workers and my constituents voted for at the election—change that will deliver much-needed improvements to their lives, whether that is the new deal for working people that has been published today, making work pay and promoting work-life balance; real support for parents and children through action to provide available, affordable and accessible childcare; or the plan to support our communities and high streets, tackling antisocial behaviour and making us all feel safer at home. All those measures will improve lives and, when taken together and alongside everything else this new Labour Government will do, will be transformative for working people and our local communities.

Let me finish by saying that life is too short, and the scale of work we do as Members of the place is too big, to waste time on pettiness or games. I am a straightforward person and have even been described as “friendly”. I look forward to working with everyone in this House in the interests of our respective constituents and our shared country. I aim to be as generous as a properly filled Eccles cakes, as reassuring as the light of a protector lamp down in the dark, and as warm, forthright and straight-speaking as the people of my constituency. In the spirit of co-operation, for the good of us all and the work we do for those we represent, let me share with all hon. Members some advice my dad gave me: there is never any shame in learning from others; never cross a picket line; and, most importantly, always get your round in.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call Lee Barron to make his maiden speech.