MP Ivan Lewis to fight seat as independent at next election

Ex Labour (now independent) MP Ivan Lewis has revealed he intends to stand in Bury South as an independent candidate at the next general election.

The former minister, who has represented his seat since 1997, made the announcement in a live Facebook video on Sunday evening.

“When this election comes, whenever it comes, I will stand as a strong independent voice for the people of Bury South,” he said in the video.

“Please come with me on this journey. You have been with me for the last 22 years. It has meant more than I can ever put into words to represent the constituency, the community which is my home town,” he added.

Parliament will be asked on Monday evening to vote on Boris Johnson’s bid for an early general election on December 12. The PM requires a two-thirds’ majority.

Pro-Remain opposition parties have proposed a December 9 poll instead.

In the video, the MP, whose constituency voted Leave (54.51 percent), accused Parliament of failing “in its duty to deliver the result” of the Brexit referendum.

“I voted for the latest deal and an election because I believe it’s time to put the country first, end the stalemate and move forward with the decision of the people in the referendum,” he said.

Later, the former Labour MP attacked Jeremy Corbyn over the antisemitism row, which has engulfed the party. “It’s a source of immense sadness to me that Corbyn’s extremism and the scourge of antisemitism has destroyed the Labour Party that I once loved,” he said.

He also accused the Conservative Party of continuing “to fail disabled and vulnerable people in our society.”

Lewis, who was suspended from Labour over sexual harassment claims in 2017, which he denied, resigned his membership a year later.