Thanks to new package of measures including tax-free training incentives worth up to £31,000, the Labour government will recruit and retain great teachers where they’re needed most – including right here in Blackpool.

In Blackpool we see the impact of addiction, mental ill health and homelessness every day. Too many people are stuck in a cycle they can’t break on their own and this new funding will go straight into treatment and recovery services that help people turn their lives around.

I’m calling on business owners here in Blackpool to share what’s really happening on the ground and what more we can do to fix this. Your experience matters and your views will help shape what happens next.

This week the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, confirmed that every state primary school in England will have a library by the end of this Parliament. Labour will provide libraries to the 1,700 schools currently without one. The funding comes from £132.5 million unlocked from Dormant Assets.

Labour has fired the starting gun on a major set of plans to open up opportunities for young people, with announcements that will change lives right here in Blackpool.

No more drilling and disruption on the Fylde Coast. It’s over for good.

The Pride in Place programme is the biggest shift of power from Westminster to towns like ours in history. Layton and Grange Park are set to receive £20 million of long-term investment – guaranteed funding over the next decade. On top of that, Blackpool has been awarded £1.5 million in Impact Fund money for immediate improvements to shared spaces, high streets and the public realm.

For too long local government has been overlooked and underfunded. Decisions that should be made close to the people they affect have instead been handed down from Whitehall. Blackpool South, and Lancashire as a whole, has felt this deeply. This English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill begins to put that right.

Are you a teacher in Blackpool South? Would you like to be better equipped to teach your pupils about UK Parliament? Apply for an all expenses paid course in Westminster and find out how.

My magazine, Beyond the Prom, is dropping through doors across Blackpool South as I speak. Read it in full here!

New figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show what too many of us already know – Blackpool is carrying one of the heaviest mental health burdens in the country.

As your MP for Blackpool South, I’m proud to back the Hillsborough Law now. Because this isn’t just about what happened in Liverpool, or London – it’s about trust in the system we all rely on. It’s about saying never again will the State close ranks and betray the people it serves.

I’m excited to invite primary school-aged children across Blackpool South to take part in my 2025 Christmas Card Competition. This is a chance for children to showcase their creativity and community spirit, with the winning design appearing on my official Christmas card and sent across the constituency and Westminster this festive season.

This week in Parliament I raised the urgent need for taxi licensing reform for Blackpool. The current system is failing cabbies, passengers and our local economy.

The leader of the House of Commons has praised Blackpool Illuminations and encouraged people to visit the town’s iconic attraction this season.

Angela Rayner stepping down as Deputy Leader leaves Labour at a crossroads. She’s been a fighter for our party’s values and for working people. She showed the grit and honesty our movement relies on. Her departure gives us a moment for reflection – to think hard about who we are and who we stand for. That will be at the forefront of my mind today as hustings take place before MPs cast their vote for a new Deputy Leader tomorrow.

In recent weeks I’ve visited Harrowside House and Pennystone Court, two not-for-profit Blackpool care homes, to sit down with residents, answer their questions and listen to their stories. What I heard was simple but powerful – people want dignity, security and a strong sense of community as they get older.

When the rest of the country think of Blackpool, they picture the Promenade – the Tower, the piers, the bright lights and the bustle. But for us locals Blackpool is so much more. This summer I visited every corner of Blackpool South give it the attention it deserves.

I joined Lancashire's Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw and local police officers on the beat to see how officers are keeping the town centre safe this summer.