Hywel Lloyd, co-founder of Labour Coast and Country, very sadly passed away on 25th August while walking in the Lake District. He was 61. Hywel was the driving force behind Labour Coast and Country, working to raise the profile of rural and coastal issues within the Labour Party through networking, knowledge exchange and facilitation.
Hywel had worked as a special advisor in past Labour Governments, to Hilary Benn when Secretary of State for Defra and for Hazel Blears in Communities and Local Government. Passionately committed to ensuring that rural and coastal areas were not written off as natural Tory strongholds and that the Labour Party thought carefully about the particular needs and challenges of these places, he established LCC after the 2010 General Election defeat with former minister Jim Knight and others.
LCC’s work falls into three categories.
First is networking among parliamentarians to encourage sharing of good practice and helping ensure discussions about rural and coastal problems were well informed by evidence and lived experience.
Second is to act as a conduit for Labour Party members across the UK to connect with each other and with the Party’s elected representatives on all things rural and coastal.
Third is to act as an organisational memory and repository for campaigning practices and strategies in rural and coastal areas, for General Elections but also for local and devolved administration elections.
Hywel was a well-known face among Labour MPs and peers, working in and around Parliament. He organised regular dinners in Parliament for MPs, ministers and their advisers to engage with key rural and coastal interest groups. He organised annual LCC virtual conferences and helped establish a national network of Town and Parish Councillors who are members of the Labour Party.
Hywel was an active campaigner, supporting Labour election campaigns across the country’s rural and coastal constituencies. He was a regular visitor to CLPs interested in engaging with LCC and learning more about effective campaigning in oft-neglected wards and constituencies. He helped galvanise action across myriad Labour Party communities.
LCC endorsed many candidates during Labour’s selection process for the last General Election. The very healthy crop of Labour gains in some of the UK’s most rural and sparsely populated coastal areas was in part the result of campaigning techniques developed and disseminated by LCC members.
Hywel was an energetic presence at the 2025 Labour Party Conference, having secured for LCC a prime spot in the Exhibition Hall right by the entrance to the parliamentarians’ green room. Scores of senior politicians dropped by to discuss Labour’s vision for rural and coastal areas and reflect on the Party’s performance and prospects. He helped groups of MPs organise fringe events and joyfully distributed goodies such as sticks of Labour rock to delegates.
Hywel will be greatly missed by many in the Labour Party, be they MPs, peers, councillors or local activists. He had been central to planning LCC’s presence at this year’s Party Conference. The remaining Directors will be there so do come and see us. We will be at stand C6 in the Exhibition Area, as arranged by Hywel, and will have a book of condolences for those who would like to pass on messages to his family and loved ones.