CONOR McGinn says he will not shy away from speaking up for the town in parliament and is vowing to be a vocal backbench MP.

The new MP for St Helens North admitted experiencing mixed emotions on election night after gaining a seat in parliament but witnessing a crushing defeat nationally for Labour.

Heading into the vote, he had hoped to arrive in Westminster with a party that was running the country but his priority now is defending a working class town he fears will suffer at the hands of the Conservative government.

He told the Star: "I don't think the Conservative government will deliver improvements to the lives of working class communities, some with high levels of deprivation, like the ones I represent. And the NHS is in for a rocky ride."

Mr McGinn pledged to work with the government to get the best outcomes for St Helens North around jobs and economic development.

However, he added: "But politics is about power. If you don't have power you can't deliver your vision.

"I'm an opposition backbench MP and I am going to have work hard to make my voice heard and those of the people of St Helens North in Westminster. I am determined to do that.

I won't shy away from speaking up."

Some political commentators say Labour faces at least ten years out of power but McGinn says this is not necessarily the case.

"Politics is unpredictable at the minute. We went from 40 seats to one in Scotland. We picked up a couple of seats in England from the Liberal Democrats wo have been decimated. There's no reason why we can't win in 2020 but its going to be difficult.

"We have to reflect on the result we had.

"We have a leadership election in September but that shouldn't be instead of taking the fight to the Tories which is what we should all be doing now.