"These are tough times and under this Tory-led government many people in Manchester are suffering and getting left behind. If elected I will use all my energy, skills, experience and knowledge to stand up for our communities and get things done for the better."

"We need to dig deep and give people a reason to be optimistic just as Obama is doing in America. Because in the same way that outcome of the U.S. elections will change the course of events there and around the world, so too do politics here in Britain."

"It's not a matter of if economies around the world becoming low-carbon, but when and how: through struggle and strife or through advancement and progressive leadership. Larry Elliot described it today as the 'Green New Deal.' It's a leadership we in Britain can provide, and from which our economy can benefit."

"Team GB's success at the Beijing Olympics can, in part, be said to have been made in Manchester. For example, all the cycling medal winners trained at Manchester's velodrome, the National Cycling Centre."

"The only limit to human potential is every choice we make paints the canvas of our life."

"Bravery is born the moment you decide your values outweigh your comforts. For where clarity resides, peace inevitably follows — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose."

"Eighty percent of all choices are based on fear. Most people don't choose what they want they choose what they think is safe."