In his first full week in the job, our new Member of Parliament, Alan Strickland MP, hit the ground running by leading a parliamentary visit to the Hitachi Rail plant.
To raise awareness of the world class manufacturing taking place at Hitachi, Alan organised for five newly elected Members of Parliament from Darlington, Bishop Auckland and other neighbouring areas to visit the facility.
The parliamentary delegation saw every stage of production, met apprentices and held talks with trade union officials and Hitachi’s UK chief director. The MPs heard about the challenges the plant is facing followed the gap in orders left by the previous government.
Alan Strickland, MP, said: “As an election candidate I spent 18 months banging the drum for Hitachi. Now I’m our Member of Parliament, working hard to try and secure a future for the Hitachi plant is my number one priority.
“I’m was really pleased to organise a parliamentary delegation from across the region, so that new MPs could see for themselves the incredible engineering skills on our doorstep and support my campaign to back the plant.”