General election 2024: Lib Dems announce candidate for Calder Valley seat for upcoming general election

The party says Mr O’Hanlon is a a candidate with a diverse background and commitment to public service.

Originally from Prestwich, where he served as a borough councillor for eight years, Mr O’Hanlon moved to Todmorden eight years ago and lives on a smallholding in the upper Calder Valley with his spouse, Jo.

With a professional career as a risk engineer, he evaluates organisations for insurance purposes, advising on risk management.

His expertise spans insurance underwriting, health and safety, property construction, fire and security protection, and business continuity.

Mr O’Hanlon works with public sector entities, housing projects, and large commercial organisations.

In addition to his professional life, he is actively involved in his community, cares for animals on his smallholding and engages in sports and fitness including five-a-side football and jogging.

He also enjoys live music at local venues such as the Polished Knob and Burnley Mechanics.

Mr O’Hanlon says he believes he can effectively represent Calder Valley and advocate for the Liberal Democrats’ policies.

He emphasised the party’s commitment to sound economic judgement, coupled with a commitment to fairness and access to high quality public services.

In this election, he says he is fighting to improve local NHS services, to recruit more GPs, fix social care to enable quicker hospital discharges and give pharmacists more prescribing powers for minor ailments.

Mr O’Hanlon is also campaigning for an urgent treatment centre on the site of Todmorden Health Centre.

He says he is battling for people to have fair access to good public services and aims to help cut the cost of living by using his business expertise to deliver better growth.

Mr O’Hanlon says he wants to give people a helping hand and support so that they can help themselves.

Voters go to the polls on July 4.

The other people hoping to win the Calder Valley seat are Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour); Vanessa Lee (Conservative); Jim McNeill (Social Democratic Party); Kieran Turner (Green Party); James David Vasey (Yorkshire Party) and Donald Robert Walmsley (Reform UK).