THE first time many people in Warrington North would have heard the name Charlotte Nichols would have been back in 2019.

Prior to that, Helen Jones had been Labour MP for Warrington North for 22 years.

But Ms Jones’ retirement ahead of the General Election in 2019 presented an opportunity for London-born Ms Nichols.

The party opted to have an all-women shortlist for the seat.

But there was a significant amount of political drama behind the scenes before the candidate was selected.

Labour members in Warrington North demanded that they get a say on who was selected as the party’s candidate in the constituency.

However, the candidate was selected by a panel, rather than members of Warrington North Constituency Labour Party, which had sparked a clash between members in Warrington North and South.

Ms Nichols – who studied at the University of Liverpool – was left ‘delighted’ after being confirmed as the Labour Warrington North candidate for the 2019 General Election.

Since being created in 1983, the seat has always been deemed a safe Labour seat and always held by the party.

However, the Conservatives came close to causing one of the biggest shocks of the General Election in 2019, after cutting Labour’s majority to 1,509.

But, ultimately, Ms Nichols won the seat, and commenced her time in Parliament.

And now, just over four and a half years on, she has retained the seat – with a far bigger majority.

Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols

Speaking at the election count at Birchwood Community Hub, after the result, Ms Nichols said: “It’s just fantastic, I thought I was dreaming when I first saw the exit poll, but over the course of the evening it’s looking like its correct, and it’s so encouraging to see from where we started from 2019, of course, to get a majority of one would have needed a record swing, and it feels like we’re going quite a long way ahead of that, the way things are going.

“On a personal level, it’s enormous to have that vote of trust and confidence from the people of Warrington North in me for a second term.”

Asked what are going to be some of her biggest priorities in her second term as MP, she said: “I think the key thing will be particularly when it comes to the new hospital in Warrington that is so desperately needed.

“There was a lot of work that was done on that under the last Government, but unfortunately it wasn’t something that we were able to get over the line.

“It’s something that’s massively needed for the town, both in terms of health outcomes, but also in terms of productivity – the amount of people that I met out door-knocking who have been waiting for a year for specialist appointments, that was keeping them out of work, as well as causing them misery.

“I think there’s a lot that we need to do about the cost of living crisis, but also about what we do about energy security for the future and given how many jobs in Warrington North are in sectors like new nuclear, I think it’s something that we can play a really important role in, as a community but also for the country.”