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   Ex-Worsley MP quits Labourby News Team
Terry Lewis, the former MP for Worsley, sensationally quit the Labour party yesterday after 44 years on the frontline. Joining parliament in 1983, Terry served his constituency for 22 years straight, but decided not to stand for re-election in 2005, when current MP for Worsley, Barbara Keeley took over. Yesterday Terry gave up his Labour party membership after profound disagreement with the direction the party was going in. We got the reaction from the local political scene on this issue. Councillor Iain Lindley, PPC for the Conservatives in Worlsey and Eccles South, said: "Terry is still respected as a hard-working local MP who understood the area he represented, although I doubt we agree on much politically. His resignation shows that Labour are ignoring and taking for granted the very people that they claim to represent." "It clearly shows that Labour have lost touch with people in this part of the country." "Local residents need an MP who understands their constituency and is prepared to stand up for local people, and they can only get that by voting for change." David Henry, PPC for the Trade Unionist/Socialist Co-alition, said: "There can be no doubt the modern Labour Party is now deceased, along with the principles they hold dear. "The very party that once championed the poor, the voiceless and the people of this city well has drifted so far to the right it has disastrously sunk. "Working class people should now look to the left, where they will find a lifeboat of survivors and a new generation of genuine fighters for social justice, ready to reclaim the movement for the very people it belongs to." *Note: Barbara Keeley, current MP for Worsley, is speaking in Parliament this morning; when she comes out she will add her perspective on Terry's departure. Photo: Terry Lewis
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