Rochdale (UK Parliament constituency) The Liberal Democrats held the seat at first, with Liz Lynne winning at the 1992 general election, only to lose to Labour's Lorna Fitzsimons at the 1997 election. However, they regained the seat at the 2005 election, with Paul Rowen defeating Fitzsimons. In 2010, the town was brought to national attention when then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown was caught on a tape recording describing a local woman, Gillian Duffy, as a "bigot" after having a conversation with her while campaigning (later described as "Bigotgate" by the UK media), but despite the unfavourable publicity, Labour still managed to narrowly win the seat
Premiership of Gordon Brown News microphone he was still wearing following a visit to Rochdale and were widely broadcast. At the election, Labour lost 91 seats in the House of Commons, but the Conservatives failed to achieve an overall majority, resulting in the first hung parliament since 1974. Under the constitution governing what happens in the event of a hung parliament, Brown remained temporarily as Prime Minister, while the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives entered into talks aimed at forming a coalition government. Talks between the Liberal Democrats and Labour also took place. On 10 May, Brown announced his intention to resign as leader of