THE LATEST
NEWS
Coastal communities must be part of the conversation
New government data shows seven neighbourhoods in Blackpool among the top 10 most deprived in the country. This is a reminder of the consequences of decades of neglect but these figures do not define us. We are a resilient, creative community with real strengths and potential.
Typhoon deal secures thousands of jobs for the Fylde Coast
The Prime Minister has written to me to thank me for helping to get the Typhoon deal with Türkiye over the line. This is more than just a defence deal – it’s jobs, skills and livelihoods here on the Fylde Coast, across Lancashire and the UK.
Women’s health inequality has gone on too long – this government is putting it right
Women represent more than half of the population, and between reproductive health, pregnancy and birth, longer life expectancy they are more likely to need medical care across their lifetime. But there’s a huge gender bias in medicine means women’s symptoms often go under-recognised or misdiagnosed. Too many women have been ignored, dismissed or told to just get on with it. That ends now.
Renters rights become law
My office regularly hears from people living in unfit housing. I’ve fought for those tenants, pushed the council and housing providers to act and helped people move into safe homes. Now, with this new law, they won’t have to rely on luck or persistence alone. They’ll have rights on their side.
No child should be priced out of a fair start
This week’s Cost of a Child 2025 report from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) makes for grim but essential reading. It confirms what is already clear to us in Blackpool – families are being priced out of a basic standard of living and government policy is making it worse.
Why I’m launching a survey on SEND
In my first year as your MP I’ve visited nearly every school across Blackpool South and one issue has come up more than any other – support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, or SEND.
Survey: Experience of SEND support in Blackpool South
I want to understand how well children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are being supported in Blackpool. This survey is for parents, carers, young people with SEND and educators.
Cleaning up Blackpool, street by street
One of the best outcomes of my Beyond the Prom tour this summer was working with Enveco, our local environmental team. We spotted problems from fly tipping to dog fouling and overgrown weeds and they cleared them.
new online hospital to transform how healthcare is delivered
The new NHS Online Hospital will let you be referred straight from your GP into a national online system. That means you can see a specialist online within days, not months.
Coastal towns like Blackpool deserve better – I’m fighting for it
I’ve joined other Labour MPs from coastal towns to demand action from the government. We want a proper plan to bring good jobs and opportunity back to places like Blackpool.
My call for investment in South Shore
This week in Parliament, I called on the Communities Minister to make sure the full £1.5 million Pride in Place Impact Fund for Blackpool is spent in South Shore.
Better Start offers better future
I’ve long said that Blackpool has the answers to its own problems and when MPs from the Health and Social Care Committee came to Blackpool this summer, I was proud to demonstrate to them exactly what I mean. What they found, in fact, were perhaps answers to the whole country’s problems – at least when it comes to the first 1,000 days of life.
Have your say: tell the government what Blackpool’s hospitality sector needs
The government has launched a four-week review of outdated pub licensing rules that are holding our town back. And I want you to have your say.
BLACKPOOL PUPILS TO BENEFIT FROM MORE SPECIALIST TEACHERS IN CLASSROOMS
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.
Blackpool gets £45,000 boost to tackle rough sleeping and addiction
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.
Small business dealing with late payments? I want to hear from you
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.
Libraries for all primaries
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 delivers for young people with new future-shaping policies
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.
Labour is banning fracking - for good
No more drilling and disruption on the Fylde Coast. It’s over for good.
Government hands Blackpool community new powers and investment to restore Pride in Place
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.

