Labour's Hartlepool MP candidate claims town workers are nearly £1,000 poorer in real terms than 13 years ago

Analysis by the Labour Party representatives of data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests real wages in Hartlepool are down by around 3% compared to 2010, leaving people £934 a year worse off.

However, Hartlepool’s MP Conservative Jill Mortimer said Labour were “playing politics and cherry-picking figures to hoodwink people”.

She also stressed she is working hard with the Government to ensure businesses and individuals in the town “get real support” to help deal with the cost of living crisis.

Labour said the figures show in “every region” in Great Britain real wages, which are adjusted for inflation, are lower now than when the Conservatives came to power in 2010.

The party’s Hartlepool Parliamentary candidate, Jonathan Brash, said this “represents a complete failure by the Conservatives”.

He added: “After 13 years, Hartlepool people are poorer, our public services are broken and crime is on the rise.

“All the rhetoric, all the vanity projects, all the spin and yet they’ve simply not delivered the basics that our town needs – good jobs, strong services and safe streets. It’s time for a fresh start with the Labour Party.”

Labour Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the figures show “the complete failure over 12 years to build an economy that actually works in the interests of working people”.

Yet Mrs Mortimer hit back by stating she “continues to work hard to bring jobs to Hartlepool, while Labour offer nothing”.

She said: “This is another example of Labour playing politics and cherry-picking figures to hoodwink people.

“They have conveniently ignored the Covid pandemic, the war in the Ukraine and the fact that Hartlepool had Labour MPs for almost 60 years doing nothing for the town until I won the by-election in 2021.

“Since then I’ve been working with the Government to help businesses and individuals across Hartlepool get real support to deal with the cost-of-living crisis caused by global inflationary pressures.”

Labour Party chiefs also claimed “a crucial component of getting wages up and improving living standards is growing the economy, something that has stalled under the Tories”.