Outgoing Hartlepool MP Jill Mortimer discusses her General Election defeat
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00:00I'm here with Jill Mortimer. Jill, what's your reaction to tonight's results in Hartlepool?
00:06I'm sad, but I'm more sad for the good colleagues that I've seen washed away in the tide tonight.
00:12I know what excellent MPs they were and that Westminster will be a poorer place without them.
00:18How will you feel looking back over your time as Hartlepool MP? Are you proud of what you've done? Have you enjoyed the experience?
00:24It has been, as I said, the absolute privilege and honour of my life and I love Hartlepool now.
00:29I'm part of its history. I was the first female MP here and hopefully that will show people that there is a way forward.
00:35Any little girl can become the Member of Parliament of Hartlepool and any little girl who wants to be a Conservative can too
00:41because no longer is it just a Labour stronghold.
00:45You've mentioned in your speech previously about some of the difficulties that you and your family have had in terms of some of the abuse on social media.
00:51What had that been like for yourself and your family?
00:54It's not just social media. It's a tiny part of it for the abuse. You get the actual death threats and things coming in.
01:00What worries me is that politics has become a very, very toxic environment for MPs and their families.
01:08I think what we all need to do, every politician in the land, needs to work very hard.
01:12Every media outlet, everybody who sits behind a keyboard, we've got to work very hard to stop this narrative and this attacking MPs
01:19because that toxicity is meaning that good people will not put their heads above the parapet and come and do this job for others.
01:27Why would they? And I think you'll find a lot of women MPs won't come forward, women candidates.
01:33What has been your proudest achievement of what you've achieved during your time as MP?
01:41So much. Hartlepool is a wonderful, wonderful place and I hope that I've done a little bit to let the people outside
01:48and the outside world know that. I'm really proud that there's now a future for the nuclear site, which there wasn't when I arrived just three years ago.
01:57I'm proud that we brought £16.6 million in to build the new production village, to enhance the film and TV studio.
02:05There are so many things and all the plans that we've got to make the town just look better and I hope that they will continue.
02:11And finally, what's going to be next for Jill Mortimer?
02:14Next for Jill Mortimer is a glass of wine and a long sleep because I think I've had about seven hours in the last week and then we'll dust ourselves off.
02:22But one thing I can assure you of Nick is I'm not going anywhere. I don't have to go to London now, Ford is awake, so I'll be in Hartlepool an awful lot more.