Shadow Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham is ‘quietly confident’ of his chances for re-election as votes are counted at Leigh Sports Village.
Exit polls by the BBC and YouGov put Conservatives ahead of Labour by 77 and 21 seats respectively, but Mr Burnham remains optimistic.
Having witnessed ‘strong ground operations’ in marginal seats up and down the country, Mr Burnham claims the figures do not tell the whole story.
“We fought a really strong campaign here in Leigh – the best campaign I have ever been involved in,” he said.
“To be honest, it is the best manifesto we have fought on since I have been a candidate.
“I have been really invigorated by the campaign.”
Labour plan to provide an extra £2.5bn in funding for the National Health Service in order to pay for 20,000 more nurses, 3,000 midwives and 8,000 GPs.
Burnham said: “Worries about the future of the NHS are at the top of people’s concerns. It is a whole range of issues that Ed has put at the centre of the campaign.”
The party has pledged to end zero-hours contract and would pass a law that gives employees a right to a regular contract which would begin after employees have worked regular hours for 12 weeks.
“The concern about zero-hours contract is a very big issue across these constituencies,” he explained.
“I’ve heard on the doorsteps of people having to rely on food banks to feed their families even though they are in work.
“The policies we had really spoke directly to people here.”
