News and Commentary

The Long Campaign

Part three of John Haywood’s journey In my previous two blogs I described the build-up to the 2019 local elections, when Labour had three town councillors elected in Ringwood, and…

You make your own luck

Part two of John Haywood’s journey Cllr John Haywood In the previous instalment of this blog, I covered the 2015-2019 period of local campaigning in Ringwood.  At the 2019 local…

Labour’s offer to communities of the Country

The LCC team Communities of the Country may not have always been seen to be electorally important to Labour, yet without some support from these communities, without some reflection of…

Labour’s offer to communities of the Coast

The LCC team As we approach our annual Virtual Coast & Country Conference this Saturday we recognise the real opportunity of it being the last before a General election, and…

The Power of the Coast

Jess Asato and Keir Cozens With the right political leadership and the right investment, our coastal communities can provide the quality jobs of the future – and power Labour’s ambition…

A National Care Service,  for everyone

Ben Cooper, Senior Researcher at the Fabian Society In 2009, the idea of a National Care Service was born. Since those dying days of the last Labour government, the party has repeatedly re-committed…

Who decides for communities of coast and of country?

Hywel Lloyd, LCC Co-Founder As Parliament returns we have the prospect of two imminent by-elections and a conference season dominated by the ebbs and flows of framing the general election…

Out of bounds for Labour?

Cllr John Haywood For many years, when I meet Labour people and tell them about the politics of the New Forest, especially the west of the Forest, they are amazed that there…

Labour: Winning for Communities of COAST & COUNTRY too

As Labour heads towards a manifesto for the next General Election we have been working with our wider network, and those who’ve signed up to the CPTNetwork, (that’s kindly supported by…

Ending the rural digital deserts

Samantha Niblett, Vice-Chair (Membership) of Erewash CLP and Founder of Labour Women in Tech I don’t always agree with the Country Land and Business Association but it has a point…

What can you do as a Labour Town Councillor?

Report from National Association of Local Councils Conference 2022 Jonathan Wallcroft is a Town Councillor in Keynsham; and LCC’s Field Organiser for the CPTNetwork. I had the pleasure of attending…

October NPF Report — Alex Mayer

Alex Mayer is an LCC supporter and member of the NPF for the Eastern Region This week saw the first full meeting of the new National Policy Forum in a…

Politics Returns — LCC at LPC22

While we wait, with some trepidation, for this week’s imminent announcements from a government without mandate, conference in Liverpool gives all the Labour family an opportunity to show it is…

Winning Rural England – Cllr Chris Hinchcliff

Chris Hinchcliff is a Labour Councillor on North Hertforshire district council and works for CPRE. Across England, roughly 24 million people live in rural communities, or in urbanareas with a…

Coastal Jobs Crisis – Jayne Kirkham

The hospitality sector was decimated by Covid, then faced having to get back on track between lockdowns and is still struggling with staff absences due to Covid.  Jobs are often…

NALC opens nominations for Star Council Awards 2022

By Niamh MacElvogue, Communications intern, National Association of Local Councils The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has opened nominations for the Star Council Awards 2022. As the only awards…

A view from Rutland – Cllr Leah Toseland

Back in November 2021 there were headlines in the local papers and even on BBC News saying ‘Conservatives shocked as Labour win first seat on Rutland County Council in more…

View from Bradley Stoke – Cllr Angela Morey

It was a rainy grey Wednesday last January when scrolling through Facebook I saw a post: Vacancy for a councillor in Bradley Stoke North. Friends started ‘tagging’ me to tell…

The View from Southend – Cllr Ian Gilbert

Southend-on-Sea has much featured in national headlines of recent time. The murder of Sir David Amess shocked the nation, and even now it is hard to take in that such…

Coastal Housing Emergency – Jayne Kirkham

A number of councils in Cornwall, including mine in Falmouth, have declared Housing Emergencies. There is a massive problem here. It was recently reported that there were 69 properties to…

Why be a parish councillor? | Jonathan Wallcroft

North East Somerset Constituency is, largely, famous for our MP Jacob Rees-Mogg. The combination of the name of the constituency and our representative belies the fact that this is a…

Let’s make the beach safe for all | Paul Richards

Coastal towns are looking forward to the summer with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. On one hand, after a terrible year, the hoteliers, B&B owners, campsites, bars, restaurants, and…

Social care for coast and country | Mary Wimbury

In our second manifesto response, Mary Wimbury explores how to set minimum standards of access for all public services and essential utilities through the lens of her work and experience of social…

Cambridge on the Coast? | Andy Westwood

A former colleague recently tweeted that “what UK really needs is Cambridge on the Coast; a new University for the Coast…” Certainly, we need something. England’s coast is largely poorer…

Our manifesto for the May 2021 elections

The elections taking place across Great Britain on 6 May will be decisive for the country, and for Labour. Ahead of the vote, Labour:COAST&COUNTRY has prepared a manifesto for our…

Labour’s opportunity | Elliot Green

Labour has an opportunity. For too long failure in the coast and country has been expected, and consequently the energies of the party have ignored the potential of our non-urban…

Regenerating our Coastal Towns | Gill Cookson

Centuries ago, when transport for goods and travellers was most conveniently done by water, people settled in coastal towns. Later, sea ports attracted major industries like ship-building and mining. Later…

Keeping Seaside Blues at Bay | Lord Bassam

The House of Lords report on ‘The Future of Seaside Towns’ published 18 months ago seems almost as relevant today as it did then. Much has happened in the intervening…

Labour:Coast&Country’s Annual Gathering @ Connected

Join us on Sunday 20th September from 1pm to 2pm on Zoom for our regular lunchtime fringe event bringing together coast and country party members and advocates. We’ll continue our…

Join us for our Virtual Coast & Country Conference!

The countdown is on to our first ever Virtual Coast & Country Conference on Saturday 5th September from 10am till 2pm, check out the agenda and RSVP below: 10:00 WELCOME. Hywel Lloyd, Co-Founder,…

Lessons from Waveney | Sonia Barker

In the below post, Sonia Barker – the Waveney Labour Parliamentary Candidate in 2017 and 2019 – sets out her thoughts on the last two general election campaigns and what’s…

Rebuild in Coast and Country | Rachel Reeves MP

It was a privilege to join Labour Coast and Country recently to talk about how Labour can rebuild support in towns, rural areas, and coastal communities.   Currently, the electoral map…

Virtual Conference | SAVE THE DATE!

We’re delighted to announce that we’ll be holding a Virtual Rural Conference later this year. There’s still a few details to finalise before we confirm the agenda and speakers, but…

LCC’s NPF Submissions

Built on discussions, members meetings and wider engagement with Labour members from across the country, as well as a number of round tables with Labour MPs we have sent the following…

Organise To Win with David Drew | Zoom Event

Join us for an informal Zoom discussion on Thursday (25th) at 6:45pm about the organisational tools needed by rural and coastal CLPs to win and the motions we should send to this…

Congratulations to Keir and Angela

Everyone at Labour:Coast&Country would like to congratulate Keir Starmer on his election as Labour leader and Angela Rayner as deputy leader. We look forward to working with Keir, Angela and…

LCC @ Labour Party Conference 2019

‘Winning England’ drinks, in partnership the English Labour Network | Sunday 22 September, 12:00 – 12:30 Ahead of our annual gathering at 12:45, start conference in style by joining us for a drink…

A Rural Strategy for England | Hywel Lloyd

The recent publication of the Lords Inquiry into the rural economy (explored here by Baroness Young) reinforces the need for a Rural Strategy as proposed by the Rural Services Network, its partner organisations and many others,…

The Future of Seaside Towns | Lord Bassam

The Lords Select Committee on ‘The Future of Seaside Towns’ paints a familiar picture of what can happen to communities that get left behind in a two speed economy. Many…

LCC’s Review of 2018

2018 is almost done and yet politics continues its fascinating, yet gruesome hold on the nation! While much of the year has been one take or another on Brexit and…

The Digital Village | Lord Jim Knight

A few weeks ago I was sat in the Home Room in the House of Lords having a conversation over dinner about the “digital village”.   It is a classic…

A Trip to Pershore | Hywel Lloyd

A warm evening and a railway station with a Betjeman poem on the platform (Pershore station, or a Liverish Journey First Class) – a very English setting from which to…

Reflections on GE2017 | Nia Griffith MP

Amongst Labour’s impressive gains in last June’s general election were a number of rural and coastal constituencies. David Drew re-took Stroud and is now serving as a Shadow DEFRA Minister,…

A Manifesto for England | Hywel Lloyd

While much of the Labour family is rightly occupied with their local election campaign for tomorrow, some of the early steps in preparing for ‘The English election’ of 2019 (elections…

Event | Coast and Country: Have your Say

Rural and coastal communities face a number of unique problems that are often misunderstood by the politicians in London who set national policy. ‘Coast and Country: Have your Say’ is…

Taking back control in Plymouth | Pamela Buchan

The local elections are fast approaching across the UK and Plymouth City Council is one of two key targets for Labour outside of London. Only two seats are required to…

It’s a long way from Islington North | Tobias Phibbs

Helen Goodman MP’s rural constituency is the geographically largest that Labour holds. To walk around Bishop Auckland’s 356 square miles, taking in the hill farms in the north Pennines to…

That’s Tory territory, isn’t it? | Sandy Martin MP

When I challenged the Secretary of State to provide more resources for the Police in Suffolk in September, Sarah Newton, the junior minister, clearly mis-heard “Southwark” for “Suffolk” and replied…

Labour’s Coastal Consultation | Alex Mayer MEP

There are few more quintessentially English postcard images than deckchairs lining a sandy beach with a pier in the background. I am lucky that in my constituency there are many…

Has Gove stolen Labour’s clothes? | Martyn Sloman

On 4th January Michael Gove made an important speech: as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs he outlined his vision for British farming after Brexit.  His speech…