He first won his seat for Labour in the 1997 general election, having contested the predecessor Littleborough and Saddleworth seat at a by-election in 1995, which was marked by Labour's particularly vicious and personal campaign, attacking the Liberal Democrat candidate, Chris Davies, as "high on tax and soft on drugs". Peter Mandelson admitted in his autobiography that they had gone "on the attack", writing "After the campaign was over, not only our opponents but some in Labour would denounce our 'negative' tactics in highlighting Lib Dem front-runner Chris Davies' support for higher taxes and a Royal Commission to liberalise drugs laws. For tactical reasons, I felt we had had little choice".