ENCOURAGING poor people to vote is the key to tackling low turnout rates, a Bolton MP has claimed.

Julie Hilling was speaking at a debate at Bolton Market, which saw residents and political figures debate why they should vote in the upcoming general election.

Ms Hilling — set to defend a majority of just 92 in Bolton West in May — argued against claims the main parties are "all the same", saying she "detests" what the people she sits opposite each week are doing.

Bolton at Home masterminded the discussion in a bid to tackle growing voter apathy — a third of people in Bolton did not vote at the last election, the social housing provider claims.

The Thursday event was anchored by presenters from Bolton FM and Johnson Fold Radio.

Edwin Pink from Bolton at Home said they wanted people to debate the issues stopping them from voting

Ms Hilling said: "People say 'we are all the same' but we are not.

"I sit opposite people every week in London and I absolutely detest what they are saying.

"There are differences."

She added: "Why do you think in Heaton and Lostock there is an 80 per cent turnout and on the council estate I live on in Atherton there is a 50 per cent turnout.

"When I ran for office, as someone who lives there, it went up to 55 per cent.

"Why is it poor people don't vote and rich people do?

"How can we as politicians have a better conversation with you as voters?"

Alain Job, who runs curry stall Nkono at Bolton Market, said: "I don't think enough is done when people are not happy with their MP.

"If you were against the Iraq War and your MP voted for it, because they wanted to toe the party line.

"That person should be recalled because she did not represent the views of her constituency.

"It is not the same for the common man.

"If I fail to report tax tomorrow, my shop will be shut and I am the worst man in the community.

"We hear scandal after scandal after scandal about MPs and the same people carry on."

Gemma Aitchison, the sister of a schoolgirl murdered in Blackpool and pioneer of Yes Matters, said: "We are never going to change anything if we don't make our voices heard. It is easier for them to ignore us."

Edwin Pink, from Bolton at Home, said: "We are keen to engage the residents and want to have a public debate about politics and why people are not engaging.

"This was open for everyone to have their say, from MPs to the man off the street.

"This is not a political chamber with people shouting at each other, this is a safe environment for people to talk about it."

"A lot of the estates that our people live in, the parties don't canvass in any more, and they wonder why people are not voting."