New Labour MPs in Lancashire under attack from dodgy Telegraph data
PLUS: Lancashire mayor latest with debate unlikely to end quickly
“Our new MP seems to be missing in action,” yelled Facebook this week.
Daily Telegraph data took aim at Labour’s new MPs and accused them of failing to contribute meaningfully to politics as a result of their lack of spoken contributions in the House of Commons.
Labour’s popularity has stagnated since the election and they face a fight to recapture the faith of the public between now and whenever the next general election takes place. But an MPs contribution should not be meaningfully measured on how much noise they make in the Commons.
The data was gleefully picked up by local Conservative groups and posted to Facebook where, quite predictably, people weren’t shy about pointing out the shortcomings of previous Tory MPs (although it must be said Nigel Evans of the Ribble Valley does retain the respect of many locally).
We’ve looked at what those MPs targeted have actually been up to since the general election if they haven’t been speaking in Commons to help give you a more complete picture.
Is speaking at Westminster an accurate measure of an MP?
Local Conservatives parties who saw their MPs defeated in the General Election have issued attacks on their replacements, accusing them of being “missing in action”.
Ribble Valley and Pendle Tory groups took aim at Maya Ellis and Jonathan Hinder in response to data published by The Daily Telegraph which highlighted the MPs who have spoken the least in Parliament.
Such data does not factor in the case work done by MPs or other behind the scenes activity but was jumped on by local Tory parties nevertheless
While no Lancashire MPs were listed in the article, it contained a tool which ranked MPs by their number of spoken contributions. For Ellis, this was 13 since July’s General Election and for Hinder it is 12.
These were used by the local Tory groups in near-identical Facebook posts, which stated “our new MP appears to be missing in action”. The posts continued: “We deserve an MP who fights for our area, not just sits quietly in Westminster.”
The attack is a reverse of a typical trope seen in UK politics where MPs are often criticised for spending too much time in Westminster rather than in their constituencies.
One quoted in the Telegraph article is William Yarwood of the right-wing pressure group TaxPayers’ Alliance who said: “Being an MP isn’t a taxpayer-funded free ride. It’s about standing up for your constituents in Parliament and making their voices heard.
“For those whose MP has gone missing in action, it’s time to speak up and demand better representation from them.”
By this logic, the headline-seeking Reform MP Rupert Lowe - who appears second on the list for spoken contributions - would be seen as a better local representative despite largely focusing on national issues.
A Labour source told The Lancashire Lead the attacks were unrepresentative of the work actually done by MPs, much of which happens away from Westminster. No comment was issued on the record however.
In the case of Ellis, she was appointed to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee in October. She is also vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) group on Sexual and Reproductive Health, which has the purpose of raising awareness in Parliament of the needs of women seeking abortion and the importance of improving the sexual and reproductive health of people in the UK.
Ellis also chairs the APPG on babies, a group which focuses on championing the needs of vulnerable babies and aims to help inform early years policy.
Speaking to specialist publication Nursery World about this role in January, she said she hoped to see the Family Hubs scheme expanded to have the same impact as Sure Start did.
Meanwhile, Hinder has no such appointments so far. Of his six written questions since election, four have related to the campaign to re-open the Colne-Skipton railway line.
Separately, Labour appears to be responding to the threat of Reform’s rising popularity by moving into the political territory it’s trying to operate in. As first reported by The Guardian, it has begun to release political adverts mimicking Reform’s branding and has set up Facebook groups focusing on migration issues.
Hyndburn MP Sarah Smith, who was elected at the same time as Ellis and Hinder, shared a link to the article on X with the message “Labour are taking immigration seriously and returning people who arrive here illegally”.
Critics of the tactic say Labour risks pushing the issue further to the political right.
In a Hyndburn Council by-election on Thursday, Labour was pushed into third place as the Conservatives regained a seat on Baxenden ward and Reform finished second. In a by-election which was held following the death of Labour councilor Edward Blake, winner David Heap received 406 votes, Reform’s Ashley Joynes 368, Labour’s Richard Downie 328 and the Green Party’s Lex Kristen 36.
Hyndburn Council’s Labour leader Cllr Munsif Dad said: “We hope we did our former colleague Cllr Edward Blake proud in this campaign.
“Residents appreciated Labour’s efforts locally since taking control in May and engaged with us positively.
“We always knew this would be a tough contest in a historically Conservative area.
“Congratulations to Councillor David Heap on his win. I pay tribute to our candidate Richard, who was well-liked, and we thank everyone involved for a respectful campaign.”
"In a time where sensationalism often overshadows meaningful storytelling, The Lancashire Lead and its national edition bring to life REAL stories that actually impact people’s lives and have the power to bring about meaningful change.
One day, hopefully, all journalism will move away from bias & sensationalism and get back to what really counts; keeping communities informed, connected, & heard.”
- Rachel Holme, Spectrum Dynamics
By Paul Faulkner
Lancashire could be on course to elect a county-wide mayor within 18 months – if it decides it wants one at all.
The government has said proposals for the next stage of Lancashire devolution will be considered alongside those from six other areas seeking to install mayoral figureheads as soon as May 2026.
However, it is unclear whether Lancashire could meet that timetable, because of a pre-existing agreement it has with ministers which puts it out of step with the process being followed elsewhere.
Labour MPs keen to see a mayor in place as soon as possible have been told by ministers it is doable – and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said in the Commons on Wednesday she was “hopeful” the powerful politician, akin to Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham, would take up their post in the county next year.
But local government sources have offered competing assessments about the likelihood of Lancashire being in that position – should it even opt to go down the mayoral route.
Ms. Rayner also confirmed that the new Lancashire Combined County Authority (CCA) – created to oversee the implementation of the county’s existing devolved powers – had officially been launched. The organisation has been operating in shadow form since November, but is now fully-fledged and will hold its first meeting on 11th March.
That milestone moment marks the culmination of a near nine-year journey since Lancashire took its first tentative steps along the devolution path when it began to work towards doing a deal with the government.
After a flurry of false dawns, disagreements and dead ends, an agreement was finally struck with the then Conservative administration in November 2023, but ended up amongst Parliament’s unfinished business ahead of last summer’s snap election.
In September last year, the new Labour government ultimately agreed to honour the so-called ‘level 2’ deal, which, crucially, did not require an elected mayor – a prospect that had been a perennial sticking point in devolution discussions between Lancashire council leaders down the years.
However, local government minister Jim McMahon set out an expectation for the county to bring forward proposals for “deeper and wider devolution” by autumn 2025 – having explored the necessary “governance models” to go with them.
The unspoken suggestion was that Lancashire would set out an ambition to step up to a ‘level 3’ deal – acquiring the extra powers and cash that such a move would bring – and accept the mayor that some corners of the county have resisted for so long.
When the government published its devolution white paper just before Christmas, Lancashire’s autumnal timetable for upgrading its deal seemed to put a question mark over whether the county could join the “priority programme” – places on which were being offered to those areas that wanted to have a mayor in post by May 2026.
While setting out the government’s preference for mayors in every part of the country, the document also made clear that mayors would not be imposed on places that did not want them – giving Lancashire plenty to think about during 2025 ahead of its autumn deadline.
Angela Rayner’s Commons statement on Wednesday acknowledged that, unlike the six areas announced as being on the fast-track to getting mayor next year Lancashire was “already deciding its mayoral devolution options”.
“We will look at its proposals in the autumn in parallel with the priority programme,” said the Deputy PM, who is also the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
“While devolution can sound techie, the outcome is simple – it is a plan for putting more money in people’s pockets…for quicker, better, cheaper transport, designed with local people in mind, and a plan for putting politics back in the service of working people,” she added.
The linking of Lancashire to the mayoral fast-track was welcomed by South Ribble MP Paul Foster – one of 10 Lancashire Labour MPs to sign a letter to the government late last year calling for the county to get a mayor by 2026.
He said after Ms. Rayner’s statement he was now “excited about the prospect of mayoral elections next year”.
Meanwhile, Blackpool South’s Labour MP Chris Webb, said he wanted to ”urge the leaders of Lancashire to seize this opportunity and actively participate in the priority programme by electing a Lancashire mayor in 2026”.
“This pivotal step will empower our county, placing us on the council of nations and regions, and unlocking billions [in] investment we desperately need.
“Let’s be bold and ambitious, ensuring that Lancashire can compete with our vibrant neighbours, Manchester and Liverpool,” Mr. Webb said.
Thank you for reading The Lancashire Lead this week.
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Luke, Jamie, Ed, Sophie and the team.