Bracknell has elected it’s first ever Labour MP in an historic election night for the Labour Party.

Peter Swallow, 31, beat the incumbent James Sunderland, beating his large 19,000 vote majority gained in 2019.

Speaking to the Bracknell News about how he was feeling, he said he was dedicated to restoring ‘service’ in his role as MP and in government more widely.

He said: “I know that I’ve got to work my socks off to deliver the trust that the people of Bracknell have put in me.

“And I know that the Labour party has to work its socks off to deliver the real change that people up and down the country have cried out for and have voted for in this election.”

In his victory speech, Mr Swallow highlighted a conversation he had with an elderly male voter who was planning on voting for Labour for the first time.

Despite his historic win, the Labour candidate only just clenched the victory – with less than 1000 votes between himself and incumbent James Sunderland.

Mr Swallow said: “Whether you voted for me or not, I want to serve as your MP and represent you to the best of my ability, I think that’s a really important and fantastic thing about our democratic process.”

Having worked as a school teacher and now a university lecturer, he said an issue close to his heart is supporting for special educational needs.

He says there is a ‘crisis’, with ‘massive issues here with local provision, and that’s something that the council is working really hard to address, but it’s a national crisis and it requires national solutions’ ‘we need to reform the whole system – that’s not a quick fix’.

He added that he’s ‘absolutely’ looking forward to working with the local council, currently Labour control. Although he would work with the council no matter who it is ran by, he said it was ‘fantastic that we’re going to have a Labour led council, a Labour MP, and it’s looking like a Labour government as well.’

He continued: “It shows the huge change that has happened in our party.

“Whilst the conservatives are too busy deciding over whether they want to fight reform or become reform, we’ve chosen a different path, and that’s to focus on real issues that are affecting people’s lives, whether that’s education, the NHS or the cost of living.

“I know that there’s lots to come, and I’ve got lots to learn, and I’m excited to start that process and get stuck in.”