In his first column of the new year, Denton MP Andrew Gwynne outlines his hopes for the year ahead - both in Tameside and across the country.

I hope you had a lovely Christmas, and feel suitably rested and well-fed. As we make our way through January, we can start looking forward to what 2023 has in store.

There are a lot of things that I’m hoping for this year, both in Tameside and nationally.

I hope to see a successful start to Greater Manchester’s publicly-owned integrated transport system, which will put more money into the pockets of working people and improve customer experience. Over the next couple of years, a transport revolution will come to Greater Manchester, and the first exciting steps towards that will come over the next 12 months.

I also hope this year will herald more success for Friends of the Tame Valley, the community group I helped to found back in 2020. Over the last few years, we’ve raised cash for signage repairs, hosted countless volunteer litter picks and even cleared-out invasive species of plant. Slowly but surely, FoTV are improving our local green spaces through the power of community.

I’m also hopeful for the students and staff at Russell Scott Primary School, who received the news just before Christmas that the school will finally receive funding for a rebuild after a botched refurb by the construction giant Carillion. I’ve been working closely with the head of Russell Scott, Steve Marsland, for several years in securing this, and I can’t wait to see what the next chapter is for this brilliant school.

Nationally, there’s no denying that 2023 has the potential to be tough for many. The cost-of-living crisis, stagnant wages, and an NHS under severe pressure are just some of the profound challenges we face. I’ll keep doing everything I can in Parliament to press the Government to face these challenges head on, and do right by the people of Tameside.

If not, then I hope 2023 will be the year that the people of Tameside have the opportunity to choose a Government that will work relentlessly to fix the problems that matter to working people.

I’d like to wish everyone right across Tameside a happy and fulfilling 2023. Whatever the year has in store for us, I know that so long as we stick together, it’ll be a successful one.  

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