A Christmas message to Lancashire

Samara Barnes takes the pen for The Lancashire Lead this Christmas Eve

Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.

Something different this Christmas Eve as I hand over the reins to Cllr Samara Barnes, a Labour local politician in Lancashire, to deliver her Christmas message.

There are well over 100 councillors in Lancashire, plus MPs, plus parish councillors but it was Samara I asked to write to you.

The reason for that is really simple - she is the councillor who I receive the most regular, consistent positive feedback about. That’s rare in politics - as a journalist, I can relate.

But on a number of occasions, as I spoke to the people of Lancashire (and not just in her area), the feedback I kept hearing was: “It was Samara who helped me.”

I don’t think she’ll thank me for sharing any of that, but I wanted to set out my reasons. And I’m part of the loony left conspiracy, too, obviously.

I hope you have a lovely fortnight. Our editions will continue as normal over Christmas but I’d not blame you for not checking your emails. Merry Christmas from me and everyone at The Lead.

Lancashire briefing

🗳️ The government has opened the door to the cancellation of next year’s local elections in the seven Lancashire areas where they are due to be held. The entire debate has been contentious. Elections are important - but those councils won’t exist in 2028 and in 2027 there will be elections to the new councils that are being set up to replace them. Lib Dems and Reform UK, doing well in elections of late, want them to go ahead. The four councils who asked for them to be scrapped are Labour-led, and they’re having a much worse time of it. Local government minister Alison McGovern said she had “listened to councils who’ve told us of the challenges they face reorganising while preparing for resource-intensive elections for areas which may shortly be abolished”.

🗑️ Recommendations linked to building a new Bacup waste transfer station have been backed by most Rossendale councillors, including the borough council borrowing over £6million. But critics claim more information is needed. Labour and Green Party councillors were among those supporting the recommendations, while a Reform UK councillor and Conservatives wanted more information. A local waste station is needed in response to waste changes from national government and Lancashire County Council, supporters of the plan said. And Bacup’s existing Henrietta Street waste site is not suitable for the future. But critics said other options may come in future.

💧Progress is finally being made over a ‘long-running saga’ about Ormskirk flooding and responsibility for a waterway debris screen near Coronation Park, councillors have been told. A new report for councillors said there were ‘significant events’ in 2001, 2002, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2015. And storms in January 2025 again caused ‘property flooding, boat rescues and deep standing water’ around Halsall Lane. Over time, different people including West Lancashire Council staff, residents and the Environment Agency had ‘intermittently’ cleared the screen through goodwill. But this did not mean they had formal responsibility for it. This summer, West Lancashire councillors said some county council staff recently did clearance work there, suggesting possible acceptance of county responsibility. Then in November, the county ‘acknowledged the complexity of the issue’ and said its legal and technical teams were looking at the issue, the report added.

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A Christmas message to Lancashire

Cllr Samara Barnes

By Samara Barnes, County Cllr for Rossendale West

I was thrilled to be asked to write this Christmas message for the readers of The Lancashire Lead.

It has become one of my ‘go to’ reads this year with some great hyper local stories about what is happening in our towns and villages, to some hard hitting, complex stories about issues that affect us all here in Lancashire.

I’ll be completely honest with you - I’m usually a little bit of Grinch – I like to keep Christmas firmly in December, the tree doesn’t usually go up until a few days before the big day and I haven’t eaten turkey for donkeys years.

I think part of the reason for this is that I have worked for over 20 years with people who struggle at Christmas - families living in poverty, homeless people, those who are isolated and lonely. You can see the festive period quite differently when you walk a mile in other peoples shoes.

But this year, I’ve really leant into the Christmas spirit and I think its because it has given me so many opportunities to spend time with my community. And at the time when people are trying to break these very communities apart, sow seeds of division and turn people against each other, coming together in solidarity and festivity seems more important than ever.

One of my personal highlights was watching my youngest daughter, Indie, step up as Mini Mayor for the night to switch on Haslingden’s Christmas lights. (Thank you Councillor and current Mayor of Rossendale, Michelle Smith for being so thoughtful).

Seeing her pride, and everyone cheering her on, was a beautiful reminder of what community spirit really looks like.

That spirit is exactly what I’m keen to protect. I’ve been proud to champion the LGA’s Debate Not Hate campaign this year because politics should never be a place of intimidation or toxicity. (And we have seen a lot of this in 2025. I have been at the pointy end of Reform’s wrath a few times this year, leading to reports to Operation Ford, and a police marker being required on my home).

I’m delighted that Rossendale Borough Council has now signed the pledge, and grateful to [Reform UK leader in Lancashire] Stephen Atkinson for agreeing to take this forward within the political working group at Lancashire County Council. While there must always be a place for debate and scrutiny, we should be able to ‘Agree disagreeably’ (A quote that I have pinched from The Rest Is Politics Podcast). I will be urging other borough, district and city councils to join this campaign over the next few months too.

If you are also a regular reader of The Lancashire Lead, you will be aware of the Reform-led concerns at Lancashire County Council; from the controversial care home review to inappropriate social media behaviour and political games around Local Government Reorganisation. We should be focused on delivering real, meaningful change. I want to personally thank Councillors Azhar Ali (Progressive Alliance) and Kim Snape (Labour) for their relentless work in holding that chaos to account and being excellent and passionate representatives to the people that they serve.

Meanwhile, Clive Grunshaw our Labour Police and Crime Commissioner, and his superb team continue to push forward with vital action to improve the safety of women and girls across Lancashire.

From the comprehensive VAWG (Violence against women and girls) survey that happened over the summer, to the new Advisory Group that has recently been convened - and powerful campaigns launched during the 16 Days of Action.

Men and boys across Lancashire are being urged to #GetTheMessage as part of a new behaviour change campaign to tackle violence against women and girls and the The #NailDomesticAbuse campaign which offers a free, interactive online training package, designed to help beauty business owners and employees to spot the signs of domestic abuse and know what to do if a client, colleague, friend or family member may needs support.

So as head into a new year, lets think back to those powerful words uttered by one of my ‘she-roes’, the late Jo Cox – ‘We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us’.

We have to choose hope over fear and kindness over division.