Election special: Blackpool's new MP, Labour claims Hyndburn, senior Tory demands General Election
The Lancashire Lead - May 5, 2024
🗳️ Welcome to an election special of The Lancashire Lead - I was among dozens of reporters at Blackpool Sport Centre on Friday morning as Labour reclaimed Blackpool South.
This week was also the first election night covered by The Lead, with Liam Milton at the count in Hyndburn as Labour claimed control of the council while Kevin Gopal was just over the border in Bolton where the party failed to do so. Election counts are always a strange event to attend as a reporter and the by-election had a few unusual elements to it - not least the presence of the Monster Raving Loony Party.
From my point of view, I’m usually at sparsely attended local election counts rather than ones where I frequently walk in front of a camera broadcasting live across the country. Then, the fact that this one seemed a foregone conclusion from the outset but it still wasn’t until after 4am that Chris Webb was announced as the new MP.
It was clear from the first set of votes being counted that he was in for a big win and it turned out to be a landslide - a 41.4% margin and the third biggest by-election swing recorded by Labour post-war.
“Blackpool has had enough of this failed Government. It has crashed the economy, destroyed our public services and put up taxes. They have said it is time for change and that change started here in Blackpool tonight.” Chris Webb
You can read my full report on the election here. It was also sent out directly to subscribers to the Blackpool Lead newsletter - make sure to sign up to receive that here. I’ll touch more on Liam’s coverage from Accrington - where Labour regained control of the council - below but make sure to sign up to The Hyndburn Lead here first.
Thursday also saw elections for Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner and council seats in another eight areas. You can check out the results of those further down.
Before wrapping up this intro, I’d like to again say thanks to all those who’ve subscribed in the past week and to everyone who’s given feedback. It’s all greatly welcomed so please do use the contact form or email me on jamie@thelead.uk.
It’s a slightly condensed digest in this week’s election special and we start with something which fits the theme:
❌ An army veteran was turned away from voting in Fleetwood when his veteran card was not classed as acceptable ID (Standard).
🚓 A former Conservative council candidate is facing jail after being found guilty of election fraud (LancsLive).
😡 There are few issues which universally annoy people more than potholes. Now, Preston mum Kaitlyn Ashworth has launched a petition demanding an improvement to the problem both in the city and across the country (Blog Preston). ↪️ And Chorley Council’s leader has made a bold call for the authority to control of its highways - and therefore - potholes from Lancashire County Council (Blog Preston). ↪️ A health worker spoke out this week after being denied compensation from LCC over an injury she sustained tripping over a pothole (LancsLive).
“We notice that countless drivers are swerving to avoid potholes or slamming on to avoid hitting them and damaging their cars and this in itself poses a huge safety risk to other road users and pedestrians alike.”
Kaitlyn Ashworth
🥂 Last year, I wrote about an old Blackpool bar and nightclub which had been listed for sale. We now know it’s been bought by the owner of Ma Kelly’s with promises for “something very special” to come (LancsLive).
👨⚖️ At Preston Crown Court, two men who murdered a man in his own home in Nelson have been jailed for life (LancsLive).
🎤 Last week saw the announcement that Preston would host BBC Radio 2 in the Park - one expert says it could bring £4m to the city (Blog Preston).
🚽 The first of two LDRS stories as Paul Faulkner highlights how more than 1,000 toilet blockages over six months have led to a huge £90,000 bill for the trust running Royal Preston and Chorley and South Ribble hospitals (BBC). ↪️ Second, Bill Jacobs reports that data security breaches have seen Lancashire County Council shell out compensation of £51,000 over three years (Lancashire Telegraph).
👊 A former Blackpool bouncer has become a bare knuckle boxing champion aged 45 (Daily Star).
⛪ In Heysham, a church warden has issued a plea for people to stop scattering ashes in its garden (Lancaster Guardian).
📣 Union leaders have spoken out against “devastating” redundancy plans from Accrington-based Studio Retail (Lancashire Telegraph).
🛩️ We finish on my favourite story of the week and the man who marked his 86th birthday with a Spitfire flight, complete with a double barrel roll.
The one thing I can remember is looking at my feet and wondering why I could see the clouds. We were upside down of course. I didn’t feel sick or anything, and then he did two fast rolls. It was fabulous.
Alan Taylor, 86,
Elections in focus
There was plenty going on in Lancashire away from Blackpool South with nine areas hosting local elections. The Lead’s Liam Milton spent Friday covering the count in Hyndburn where Labour reclaimed its majority to take overall control of the council. Liam spoke with Hyndburn MP Sara Britcliffe - who’s dad lost his seat on the council - and she admitted she faces a “battle” to keep hold of her own seat.
In Preston, Blog Preston covered the local election in great depth as the Liberal Democrats enjoyed a night of great success. As well as its live updates, the site also posted videos with key figures on YouTube and TikTok, such as this example where the departing Conservative leader called for a General Election.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
In Burnley, Labour gained six seats in the first local election since six of its councillors quit over the party’s stance on ceasefire calls in Gaza.
Pendle remains under no overall control after an election which saw Labour councillors who quit for the same reason as their Burnley counterparts re-elected as independents. The Conservatives are currently the party with the most councillors.
Labour kept control of Rossendale in all out elections with new boundaries which reduced the number of seats from 36 to 30. The party claimed 20 of those, including one by Jimmy Eaton who has previously been a Conservative and independent councillor.
In Chorley, the Conservative lost two of the three seats it was defending, holding onto just one. The opposition leader was among the two unseated and the result means the council is now made up of 39 Labour representatives and just three Tories.
West Lancashire didn’t receive a great deal of coverage but you can see the results here. The standouts for me would be the return of Adrian Owens, the influential leader of the Our West Lancashire Group, and the narrow defeat of cabinet member Adam Yates to another OWL, Janet Ingman.
Only one seat was up for grabs in Lancaster and Labour’s Jackson Stubbs claimed the by-election win.
The impact of the Israel-Gaza crisis on UK local politics could again be seen in Blackburn with Darwen. There, a group formed by independents who quit Labour over the issue are now the official opposition.
And finally, May 2 also saw the election of Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, with incumbent Andrew Snowden replaced by the man who held the seat before him. Labour’s Clive Grunshaw is now back responsible for holding Lancashire Constabulary to account. He’s promised more “bobbies on the beat” as part of his election pledges.
Looking away from the world of elections, I wanted to bring the work of photographer Johannes Pretorius to your attention. Born in South Africa, he moved to Lancaster around 14 years ago and his Work From Home exhibition is on display at The Dukes until June 14.
I’d absolutely recommend checking that out - it’s particularly interesting if like me you spend a lot of time on video calls and only ever see a snapshot of the other side - but more than that, use it as a jumping off point to look at his other work.
In particular, his Dealing with the Damage and Living with the Knowledge photo essays give powerful and thought-provoking insights into two areas of impoverishment.
Explaining his work, he told me: “I started this two years ago when I was thinking 'what are the biggest issues facing us?’” Johannes, who is self-taught worked closely with Morecambe Bay Poverty Truth Commission to build up trust and spent several months with each subject - something he believes is reflected in the intimacy of his work.
Describing poverty as ‘multi-faceted’, he wants to highlight how it can be caused by a range of factors, such as an unexpected illness or ‘political decisions that were made 10 years ago’. The case studies involved offer a look at how people’s daily existence is affected so intrinsically by things not of their own making - be it their own health or the actions of others. Make sure to check out his work here.
Her diagnosis is incontestable and the symptoms of her disease have been known to medical science for more than two centuries. Yet, they have been persistently, and sometimes aggressively, questioned by administrators. She has found the process deeply degrading and painful.
Johannes Pretorius in ‘Living with the Knowledge
A few What’s On stories to finish with but before that, let me say thanks again for reading and please do subscribe and share this newsletter so it can keep growing.
Lancashire home of the Ditchburn Jukebox Museum set to be revived with National Lottery grant (Blackpool Gazette)
Cafe and restaurant units planned for prominent Blackpool hotel (Insider Media)
Blackpool Circus School to open new South Shore site in memory of founder Yuri Gridneff (Blackpool Gazette)
Blackpool Model Tramway Exhibition all set for dazzling return to the home of trams (Blackpool Gazette) (NOTE: last chance to see this is today)
 | A guest post by
|