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
Gordon Prentice 2007 Labour Leadership, instead nominating left winger John McDonnell. On 28 July 2008, he became the second MP, after Graham Stringer, to call for Gordon Brown to resign. He was a member of the Public Administration Committee, during the 2005–10 Parliament. In May 2010, soon after leaving office, he described the moment he was nearly killed by a sledgehammer wielding man in August 1998. He also announced he wouldn't stand in Pendle in the next election, stating he was now a private citizen. He married Bridget Prentice (née Corr), later also an MP, whom he had met while at university,