I pride myself on being a pragmatic, progressive politician. I look for creative and hopefully intelligent solutions to problems which my residents come to me with. I work hard to deal with those issues and I quite often get results, although I’m conscious never to make false promises. I’m not alone in this. My Labour colleagues across Lancashire do this too. Whether it being campaigning for traffic calming measures, building a pump track, keeping Waddow Hall open for Guiding Groups or organizing Community Cleanup Days. We work hard and we have a practical approach to our work. It’s absolutely devastating that so many of my Labour colleagues lost their seats at County Hall last week. Whatever the long term effects of the vote across Lancashire last week, I and my Labour colleagues in the Ribble Valley will still be working hard for you and I want you all to know this.

Lancashire County Council is now controlled by Reform UK. In Longridge with Bowland County Council Division Reforms’ Ian Duxbury was elected as County Councillor. I campaigned hard for our Labour candidate Kieren Spencer and I want to pay tribute to the strong campaign that Kieren ran. When I stood for County in 2021 I got 746 votes. For Kieren to get over 1000 votes is a major step forward for Labour and a positive thing to build upon. As the graphic below shows, the Labour Party remains the largest party in Local Government by a considerable margin. It’s because we work hard for our residents.

I genuinely wish Cllr Ian Duxbury well in his new office, because failure will be damaging for residents, not just politicians. I will be writing to Ian Duxbury soon to begin discussions with him on the challenges affecting Ribchester. I would encourage all to write to him with your concerns around Lancashire County Council issues.

I will write to Cllr Duxbury outlining what I believe his top priorities for Ribchester should be:

1. What support can the County Council provide to combat flooding in Ribchester? Will they provide support for upland flood management?
2. Will he engage and implement the measures we’ve talked about regarding anti-social behavior during the summer months and will he support the LCC youth outreach officers who work hard to offer diversionary activities to stop ASB?
3. What will the new LCC administration do to fix potholes, resurface Preston road and introduce the traffic calming measures we’re crying out for?

My offer goes out to work productively with Ian Duxbury to find pragmatic solutions to these issues and more. I’ll give him the opportunity to succeed along these lines but will also be prepared to hold him to account where he fails to live upto the promises his party made during the election or where he is in danger of letting down Ribchester residents

But I know that many people will be looking at last weeks election results with dismay and concern. The values of Reform UK are values I’ve rejected for all of my life both before and during my time in politics. I know many will feel the same. I want to re-assure you that I will continue to be fighting hard for residents in Ribchester as your Ribble Valley Borough Councillor, promoting my Labour and Co-operative values as I have always done. I hope this will be of some re-assurance to you.

Let’s not be coy, the County Council election was a defeat, against a party totally at odds with the values many of us hold dear. Values which I wear on my sleeve as a Labour party activist, equality, inclusivity, community and solidarity. I’ll be fighting populism and the far right every single day but I need you in the fight with me. To those who share those similar values now is the right time to take the plunge and join.

To quote Stella Creasy MP “don’t get angry, get organized”