FORMER Prime Minister Tony Blair paid a surprise visit to Flint to join Labour’s general election candidate meeting voters.

Mr Blair gave a ringing endorsement for David Hanson as he looks to be returned as Member of Parliament for Delyn for a seventh time at next month’s general election.

The pair met with party members at Flint Town Hall before dropping in on a coffee morning at St Mary’s and St David’s Church.

Addressing Mr Hanson’s candidacy, Labour’s longest serving prime minister Mr Blair said it was vital his former Parliamentary Private Secretary was re-elected on December 12.

He said: “I am delighted to be here with David because David Hanson is an amazing MP and a great guy. He was a really good colleague, strong and supportive and he’s one of these independent minded MPs who will stick up for people here and I really enjoyed being out.

“The most important thing with this election is that there is as many good, moderate sensible MPs that are returned as possible and it’s important that the Tories don’t win a majority that allows them to run rampant over public services. If you want to protect the National Health Service (NHS) or education, deal with the issues that matter to people’s ordinary lives, leaving aside Brexit, you need people like David in Parliament.”

Mr Blair said the stakes in the election were “as high as they’ve been since I can remember any time in politics,” adding that it was vital that MPs were returned who would stand up to protect the NHS and challenge “unacceptable levels of inequality in our society.”

Mr Hanson thanked the former prime minister, who stepped down in 2007, for lending his support to the campaign.

He said: “I just want to thank Tony for coming to Flint and the Delyn constituency. I am really proud of the achievements we made in government which were transformational for people’s lives; the minimum wage; investment in health and education; devolution; tackling employment issues in our constituency.

“The support Tony’s government gave to Airbus which employs thousands of people in our sub-region and 1,500 people in Delyn alone was absolutely vital and we have a real offer to continue the transformation.”

The deadline to register to vote or to apply for a postal vote is Tuesday November 26. Postal votes will also be dispatched on this day.

The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is Wednesday December 4.

For more information visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.