Film director Ken Loach and renowned actor Maxine Peake have endorsed Wigan’s Independent candidate Jan Cunliffe. Ms Cunliffe is standing against Labour high-flyer Lisa Nandy in the seat that has been held by the party since 1918.
The 51-year-old social campaigner says she met Loach and Peake at the Wigan Diggers Festival which commemorates Gerrard Winstanley, the Wigan-born political philospher.
Loach, 88, has been acclaimed for Brit-flicks like Kes and Cathy Come Home and other labour rights-type movies while Bolton-born Peake is a well-known feminist and socialist.
In the piece-to-camera video, Peake reads out words given to her by Loach, describing Ms Cunliffe as ‘an outstanding candidate’.
