Green MP Hannah Spencer paid tribute to Oldham suffragette Annie Kenney during her maiden speech in Parliament on March 12, 2026. The MP from Greater Manchester honoured Kenney alongside other local female trailblazers including Emmeline Pankhurst, Hannah Mitchell, Mary Quaile and Elsie Plant. Kenney, born in Springhead in 1879, was a mill worker who became a prominent suffragette and co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union. She was arrested in 1905 at Manchester's Free Trade Hall and imprisoned 13 times total. A statue of Kenney was unveiled in Oldham's Parliament Square in 2018 to mark the centenary of women gaining voting rights.
Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton MP Jim McMahon has detailed his 'sobering' visit to Ukraine on the fourth anniversary of the war with Russia. As part of a cross-party delegation, McMahon travelled to Odesa, Kyiv and Chernobyl, witnessing missile strikes and drone attacks. During his stay in Odesa, the city was hit by missiles overnight, damaging four residential blocks and a school. In Kyiv, the delegation experienced a significant attack with ballistic missiles and drones. McMahon described visiting the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant as 'a haunting highlight' and recounted meeting a woman whose home was destroyed in an attack that killed her six-year-old daughter. The delegation attended conferences and laid candles in remembrance. McMahon praised UK leadership and Oldham residents who have provided sanctuary to over 150 Ukrainians through the Homes for Ukraine programme.
Oldham Youth Council has been credited with helping shape a government bill to lower the UK voting age to 16. MP Jim McMahon, who represents Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton, introduced the Representation of the People Bill to the Commons earlier this month. The bill is based on work McMahon did with Oldham Youth Council in 2017, when they drafted a Private Members' Bill together. The council advocated for lowering the voting age, tougher political donation rules, zero tolerance of foreign interference, automatic voter registration, and measures against intimidation. McMahon previously won a Youth Voice Champion award for his campaign work on the issue.
Oldham Youth Council has been credited with helping shape a government bill to lower the UK voting age to 16. MP Jim McMahon, who represents Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton, introduced the Representation of the People Bill to the Commons earlier this month. The bill is based on work McMahon did with Oldham Youth Council in 2017, when they drafted a Private Members' Bill together. The council advocated for lowering the voting age, tougher political donation rules, zero tolerance of foreign interference, automatic voter registration, and protection from intimidation. McMahon's 2017 bill ran out of time but earned him a Youth Voice Champion award. He praised the council for never stopping their leadership on the issue.