Five Labour MPs in Lancashire call for Keir Starmer to resign
It is not yet clear if more names will be added to the list on Wednesday
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
Any journalist hoping for a quiet week after the 48 hour slog that is the local elections had their hopes dashed - for conversation has now turned to the future of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
It looked for a while on Tuesday that we were seeing the beginning of the end, but as we write to you on Wednesday morning Starmer is reportedly more confident that he will keep his position. As we know however, it doesn’t take much for that to change.
Lancashire MPs have had something of a cool relationship with the government since 2024. We’ve looked at what the Lancashire MPs make of what’s happening this week.
Lancashire briefing
🏠 A bid to build up to 1,300 homes on farmland in South Ribble has been kicked out by councillors – with one of them condemning the planned development as “an absolute crime”. The proposed ‘Cuerdale Garden Village’ would have seen 159 hectares of greenbelt – to the east of the M6 in Samlesbury – given over to a sprawling development incorporating not just housing, but also industrial and commercial units, a new primary school, local shopping centre, green space and a park-and-ride facility into Preston. However, the scheme, which was intended to extend across five parcels of land – four to the south of the A59 Preston New Road and the other on the northern side of the busy route – attracted 1,250 public objections and was recommended for refusal by South Ribble Borough council planning officials. Members of the authority’s planning committee agreed, rejecting the blueprint at a meeting which heard emotive speeches from some of those opposed.
🩺 Lancashire residents who are interested in a career in nursing could get the chance to pursue their dreams via a degree apprenticeship as part of a government plan to make the profession more accessible to people from a broader range of backgrounds. Historically, entry into nursing has come via traditional university study, but an earn-while-you-learn option – leading to exactly the same qualification – was introduced back in 2017. In 2024/25, 57 apprentice nurses were recruited across the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) region – and now the area is amongst 19 nationwide eligible to share in a £65.4m funding boost designed to find the next nursing generation that would like a more flexible route to the NHS frontline. The cash is being targeted towards those locations with the largest training shortages – and also those that are less affluent.
🛏️ A historic Clitheroe town centre shop has been given a new lease of life as affordable rented flats thanks to a council grant. The former Salvation Army shop and worship centre on the corner of Lowergate and King Lane is being turned into three one-bedroom flats by local company Branleigh Holdings. Work is underway on converting it to apartments, which will be available for rent at local housing allowance rates over the coming months to people on Ribble Valley Borough Council’s affordable housing register. The council is offering grants of up to 50 per cent of the cost of converting or renovating properties, to a maximum of £20,000. On completion, the properties must meet the government’s decent homes standard and be let for a minimum of five years, during which time the council will set an affordable rent and have nomination rights over who occupies them.
Five Labour MPs in Lancashire call for Keir Starmer to resign
By Luke Beardsworth
Five MPs in Lancashire are among those who called for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign in the wake of the disastrous 7 May local election results.
Paul Foster, MP for South Ribble, Jonathan Hinder, MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, Lizzi Collinge, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, Sarah Smith, MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, and Lorraine Beavers, MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood are all among the group of more than 80 to publicly call for Starmer to step aside.
Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley), Mark Hendrick (Preston), Andy McNae (Rossendale and Darwen) and Ashley Dalton (West Lancashire) have not yet made their position known.
The Lancashire Lead understands that both Cat Smith, MP for Lancaster and Wyre, and Chris Webb, MP for Blackpool South, are considering adding their names to the list calling for a leadership contest on Wednesday (13 May) but have so far kept their powder dry.
More than 100 MPs have signed a statement saying it is ‘no time for a leadership contest’ as names like Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband continue to be linked with leadership bids.
The names on that list have been contested by some but it does include Burnley MP Oliver Ryan.
“Last week we had a devastatingly tough set of election results. It shows we have a hard job ahead to win back trust from the electorate,” the letter said.
“That job needs to start today – with all of us working together to deliver the change the country needs. We must focus on that. This is no time for a leadership contest.”
