Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner visited Hexham earlier this week to speak with local candidate Joe Morris ahead of next month's general election.

The politician, who has served as Keir Starmer's deputy in the Labour party since 2020, was joined by Emily Thornberry, Labour's shadow attorney general for England and Wales, on the election bus in Hexham.

Labour launched its campaign bus on Saturday June 1st and it arrived in Northumberland on Tuesday June 4, albeit without Keir Starmer, who was facing off against Rishi Sunak in Salford in the first TV debate of the general election, with heated exchanges over tax, the NHS and immigration.

Rayner is currently undergoing a 5,000 mile trip across the country, as part of the Labour Party's pledge to 'power up every corner of Britain.'

Standing in front of the battle bus ahead of it launch, emblazoned with the word ‘change’, Starmer said Rayner would take Labour’s message to "every single doorstep across the country."

Guy Opperman was the most recent MP in Hexham, representing the Conservatives, and he will be running once again to try and win back his seat in Hexham, where he has served since 2010, winning four elections in that time.

However, the latest YouGov polls are predicting a Labour landslide across the country, and Joe Morris will be hoping that he can be the man to secure a first ever Labour victory in Hexham, which has been a Conservative hold for more than 100 years ago now.

On Facebook Joe Morris said: "This morning, I welcomed Labour's Election Bus to Hexham. We were joined by Angela Rayner, Labour's Deputy Leader, and Emily Thornberry, Labour's Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales.

"Angela and Emily both spoke of the change that we would bring to our communities and our country.

"Labour's message of change resonates throughout this constituency, from farms to towns and villages."

The Labour candidate will face Conservative candidate MP, Guy Opperman, Dr Nick Cott from the Liberal Democrats and Social Democratic Party candidate William Clouston in next month's election, which will take place on Thursday, July 4.