Martin McCluskey elected as Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West MP

Mr McCluskey recorded a majority of more than 6,000 in toppling long-term SNP rival Ronnie Cowan - despite what initially looked like a tight count at Greenock Town Hall in the early hours.

The result makes the Labour man the first MP of the expanded constituency of Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West, which stretches from Bridge of Weir to Wemyss Bay and takes in Port Glasgow, Gourock and Greenock.

(Image: George Munro)

Speaking exclusively to the Telegraph immediately after his resounding win, Mr McCluskey said: “It feels great to have got in and loads of hard work has gone into this.

“It’s been a team effort from everyone in the Labour team over not just this last six weeks, but over a course of months and years to get to the point where we could win this election.“

Mr McCluskey, who had been runner-up to his SNP opponent in 2017 and 2019, was elected with 18,931 votes as Inverclyde recorded an overall turnout of 57.68 per cent, down from 65.8 per cent in 2019.

INVERCLYDE AND RENFREWSHIRE WEST ELECTION - AS IT HAPPENED

The result came as Labour stormed to a huge majority nationally, with the Tories and SNP seeing their seat shares shrink considerably.

(Image: George Munro)

In his first media interview as MP, Mr McCluskey pledged to begin work to bring new green jobs opportunities and port investment into Inverclyde right away.

He said: “People are going to see from me, just as they did during the campaign, politics rooted in our communities, connected to people.

“Just as Keir Starmer and Anas [Sarwar] have said that this is a party that’s now connected to working people and is back in the service of working people, that’s how I intend to run as the member of parliament.

“People will see street surgeries, they will see supermarket surgeries, they’ll see me out knocking doors, just as I have done as a councillor and a candidate over the last two years and that will start very soon.

“We will be back out very soon on people’s doorsteps.”

(Image: George Munro)

The Westminster politician highlighted a recent visit to Inverclyde from Ed Miliband, who is expected to be the new Labour government‘s Secretary of State of Climate Change and Net Zero, and said he would get back in touch with the senior Labour politician in an effort to bring more resources to the area.

Asked what other issues he was aiming to tackle, Mr McCluskey said: “It’s the new deal for working people, it’s improving terms and conditions for people at work, it’s about standing up against NHS cuts, it’s about closing the tax loopholes for non-doms in order to fund our NHS, it’s about increasing investment in education – all things that have come back on the doorstep over the course of this election, we’ve got a plan to respond to that.

“It’s not going to always be easy, there will be difficult choices to make along the way.

“But what people get with Labour and the commitments that we’ve made are commitments that are fully funded, are ready to go and are first steps on day one of a Labour government.”

(Image: George Munro)

Ronnie Cowan, who had been Inverclyde’s MP since 2015 and had defeated Mr McCluskey in two previous elections, lost his seat to his long-time rival as support for his party slumped across the country.

Commenting on the collapse for the SNP and the Conservatives, Mr McCluskey said: “I think there was a mood for change, you felt it here in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West, but talking to candidates across the country as I was doing over the course of the election, the same sort of mood was coming up across the UK.

“I think people are absolutely appalled by 14 years of Tory government, not just the impact it’s had on the economy and the cost of living but also just the way they’ve behaved.

“I think tonight is about turning the page on 14 years of Tory government, but it’s also about restoring decency and integrity to public life after it’s really been pulled through the ringer by Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and others over the past few years.”