Hywel Lloyd, LCC Co-Founder and Former Specialist Advisor to both Rt Hon Hazel Blears & Rt Hon Hilary Benn

Alex Bellos’s book ‘Adventures in numberland’ is a fascinating exploration of numbers, what they are, where they came from and, not least, what they can tell us. 

With 322 nominations from MPs on the opening day of the Leadership elections, we can see the power of that number, not just compared to the entry requirement of 81 MPs; there were even debates about whether 322 meant anyone else could stand.

Yet numbers aren’t the whole picture, Andy Burnham’s People’s History Museum speech (29 June) and more recent letter to the PLP (9 July) hardly contain any numbers at all… 

Their importance is that they tell a story: of how Andy Burnham sees the role of government, and the role of our MPs in making that government an effective Labour government. And as LCC exists to help deliver effective Labour government, there’s a lot to like in the stories of the speech and of the letter.  

For LCC there is one important number – 157 – While a recent podcast highlighted Labour has a majority over all other parties of 157, for us 157 is the number that quantifies just how important communities of coast and of country are to Labour’s majority, as we currently hold 157 seats that are coast, country or both. 

That number also reinforces an important story: Britain is a collective of communities of coast, of country and of city. To govern effectively means engaging with, listening to and governing for all three – there’s no route to a Labour majority without some votes and seats of non-urban Britain. Andy’s speech goes some way to recognise the need to reach all parts of the country, with ‘good growth in every British postcode.’ with ‘Powers for our rural economies to address issues specific to them, like inadequate transport.’ … ‘Powers for our proud coastal towns to reimagine themselves for the twenty first century.’

In the aftermath of the 2024 General Election we saw MPs of the coastal seats and of the rural seats start to convene themselves. That has given us the Coastal PLP (of 66 Labour MPs representing a range of coastal towns); and the Rural PLP (of 136 sparse rural, rural and urban with rural seats and their market towns and villages) – we note both groups (66 and 136, also important numbers!) are bigger than any other national or regional group in the PLP. 

Neither ‘birth’ nor their development have been straightforward. In the context of Andy’s letter, their respective, and different, journeys reinforce the need for a clear feedback mechanism for MPs, and groups of MPs, to report issues and feed opportunities to the front bench; they have the intel from their seats, they know what their places need.  

And while some of those things will clearly emerge from a group like the CPLP, for example the need for a Coastal Economic Strategy, we have also found there are many reoccurring yet non-universal issues — the availability of NHS dentistry, the poor state of connectivity (A roads, mobile signal), the changing role of Town Councils — that highlight a need to convene across the whole of the PLP to draw out these issues that affect 20 seats here or 24 seats there.  

This would also allow government to understand and respond to these issues in the round – it can be easy and understandable to turn down requests for funding or a policy change from one MP, yet government needs ways to understand if the one is really the first of many. And clearly where there are many places (say with poor A road connectivity), while there won’t be the funding to solve them all now, knowing their extent would allow government to signal intent (e.g. with an A roads strategy) for all such communities.

In working with the PLP to strengthen feedback, give voice to MPs, the issues and opportunities of their communities, and make good use of their experience and skills, the Burnham team should strengthen the capabilities of the PLP team too; and, in reference to the letter, reconsider where the ‘HR function’ lies – it may be much more appropriate for it to be a part of the work of the PLP Office.  

There is clearly an expectation that the incoming team will be much more engaged in listening. In doing so they will hear a fundamental message from the CPLP, and the RPLP – ‘these communities have been starved of investment too’ – and, as Burnham has described for the north & midlands, too many have become dependent on the centre. We would emphasise our use of ‘centre’ here, there are too many coast & country communities in the south east that are also in this dependency boat. And as listening cannot equal approval or compliance, the PLP Office could help convene and facilitate the necessary serious conversations about the trade-offs that will need to be found.

With investment these communities can make the most of their new opportunities, and flip from dependence to contribution. Here the devomaxx ambition is also important – levelling up and even Pride in Place still have a degree of dependence, given they are top down funding decisions. The importance of devomaxx should be that it provides funding AND voice back to these communities, giving them a new agency to address their own situation, and provide solutions that work for their version of thriving in the future.

While devomaxx is worked through, more immediately these communities need a stronger voice in government, hence the need for a Minister for Coastal Communities, and we would argue a need for a Rural Affairs-only Minister, given the millions of people who live in rural areas. Government must also improve the Index of Multiple Deprivation to ensure it actual provides a proper detailed picture of the state of the nation – the use of old data (e.g. 2019) and aggregating to super-output areas means the issues facing many communities are hidden from view.  The IMD should be revised ahead of any Burnham government Spending Review. And, even before that, investment vehicles such as GB Energy, the National Wealth Fund the British Business Bank can prioritise these under-invested communities.

In working out devomaxx, care needs to be applied to ensure sub-regions and strategic and mayoral authorities avoid becoming mini-versions of the British centralised dependency Burnham has described being an issue for the Senedd and Holyrood. We think a key part of the answer to that in England is a revitalised town & parish tier, the most accessible community-facing part of local government. The devolution experience of Cornwall shows how a strengthened town & parish tier can support the associated strategic unitary authority.  

We already have the numbers, the 157, to properly represent communities of coast and of country. Engaged, listened to, debated with, this government can develop both a story these places can see themselves in – a Britain of coast, country and city – and where they have the opportunity and, dare we say, an expectation to do their bit to be a thriving, contributing part of the nation’s revival.