ONE minute you're dabbling in local politics and the next moment you're taking a seat in the House of Commons. Last Thursday 175 new MPs swept to power including Hilton Dawson for Lancaster and Wyre and Geraldine Smith for Morecambe and Lunesdale.

Their names are now firmly entrenched in the landslide Labour victory of 1997 when 18 years of Tory rule suffered a humiliating defeat.

As they take up the chains office and claim their place at Westminster the Citizen spoke to the incumbents about their vision for the future.

Hilton, of Malham Close, described the excitement of the last few days as invigorating.

He told the Citizen: "It's a huge responsibility but I don't feel daunted by it. At the moment I'm trying to get myself organised, sorting out an office in the constituency and support at Westminster. I aim to be an excellent MP."

But it was a pensive Hilton Dawson who watched as teams of counters sifted through piles of ballot papers on election night at the Marine Hall in Fleetwood. The long-awaited result was eventually declared at about 5.30am after a check and recount.

With the drama of Thursday already set for a place in the history books, Hilton has pledged his biggest commitment to solving the problem of Nightingale Hall Farm.

He added: "I'll be talking to people from the ministries of Environment and Agriculture to try and combat the problem."

For 35-year-old Geraldine Smith the events of the last week mark a memorable watershed in her life and the history of the constituency.

She is the first Labour MP and the first woman MP for the constituency. She takes over from Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd who has held the seat since 1979. She described election night as one of mixed emotions. "I was dazed when the result came through. All through the election campaign we received a good reaction and we were quietly confidant. We did well in Morecambe, Heysham, Skerton, Carnforth and rural areas. It all looked promising but until the count was completed we never knew for sure."

Geraldine, who has given up her job at the Post Office, says she will remain loyal to the people who voted for her and plans to be based in Morecambe.

"I want to help people as much as possible and change their lives for the better. That's why I came into politics," she added.

With a promising political career stretched ahead of her, Geraldine admitted she would also like to get involved with National Heritage, tourism and transport issues.

Now all that remains, is to see how the new MPs cope with the rigours of Westminster and the demands of their constituents. The results of the Lancaster and Wyre poll

Hilton Dawson (Labour): 25,173

Keith Mans (Conservative): 23,878

John Humberstone (Liberal Democrats): 6,802

Joyce Ivell (Referendum Party): 1,516

Jon Barry (Green Party): 795

John Whittaker (UK Independence Party): 698 The results of the Morecambe & Lunesdale poll

Geraldine Smith (Labour): 24,061

Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd (Conservative): 18,096

June Greenwell (Liberal Democrat): 5,614

Ian Ogilvie (Referendum Party): 1,313

David Walne (Natural Law): 165 County counts The results of the Lancashire County Council elections are: Lancaster East: Ruth Henig; Lancaster Rural South: Pat Quinton; Lancaster Rural North: David Wood; Lancaster Rural Central: Anthony Jones; Lancaster City: Robert Clark; Skerton: Nikki Penny; Morecambe East: Albert Thornton; Heysham: Jean Yates; Morecambe West: Derrick Stanley.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.