Gordon Birtwistle

Many residents throughout the town know me and trust me to help when their backs are against the wall. I believe my reputation and experience will translate into wide support that will give the Lib Dems the best opportunity to once again return a Member of Parliament that can be trusted to fight for local people and services.

I am always available to the town’s residents providing support and advice on multiple local and national issues. For the past 14 years I have held and continue to hold an open surgery in the town centre on most Saturday mornings.

I was elected as a Burnley Borough Councillor in 1983 and have held that role to the present day, 40 years of unbroken service.

I have served on all major decision-making committees of the Council and in 2008 became the leader of the Council.

In 2010 I was elected to be the towns’ Member of Parliament and served in the Coalition Government gaining vast experience of how Government works. Using this knowledge, I was able to achieve major funding for our hospital, £12 million pounds for a new urgent care centre (the previous Labour Government closed the A and E unit) along with a further £16 million for the new Fairhurst building which houses the new eye and facial reconstruction facilities. After many years of campaigning, I manged to achieve funding to re-open the Todmorden Curve which now provides a direct train link between Burnley and Manchester. If elected again my previous tenure as MP will enable me to be an effective parliamentary presence from day one of any new administration.

I have fronted campaigns which have benefitted the lives of the towns’ residents. I spearheaded the “I want my hospital back” campaign following the closure of the A&E department. As MP I was successful in securing funds to enable the Urgent Care facility to be re-established at the General Hospital. More recently I collected thousands of signatures for my 'I want to see my doctor face to face again' which I handed to Sir Ed Davey in December 2023.

Harnessing the power of the town’s residents in a common goal we twice raised many thousands of pounds to purchase scanners for the early detection of Prostate Cancer which helped save many lives locally.

I continue to be a vocal advocate for the economic development of Burnley, and Padiham and will do so for Reedley and Brierfield as they are incorporated into the constituency following the boundary changes. I have campaigned for greater investment in the town’s infrastructure and for the creation of new jobs. I am a supporter of local businesses and work to promote entrepreneurship in the area.

Looking towards the future I will continue to be a dedicated public servant working tirelessly to help the residents of our town in any and every way I can. I will press for major improvements in Adult Social Care; the provision of decent affordable homes for rent and the end of Section21 ‘no fault evictions’ for tenants.