Voted birtwistle last time after getting a leaflet the day before the election which I had thought was BNP but turned out to be labour. Will be going labour this time as the candidate seems not to be the careerist carpetbagger we had as a candidate last time, And also to avoid a conservative government (see above).
FWIW I think Gordon Birtwistles work had as much to do with preserving NHS services in Burnley as George Osbourne’s had with engineering the “recovery”.