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 shows England as a sea of blue, with small clusters of red in and around our cities. Our road to power must encompass towns and…
We're delighted to announce that Rachel Reeves MP, who leads the Shadow Cabinet Office team, has agreed to join us for our next Zoom session on Tuesday 23rd June at 6pm.Rachel has a broad brief which spans devolution and the constitution, Brexit, and aspects of the Coronavirus response. She's interested in speaking with members about how these…
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, including LCC. As we often find many MPs and political leaders are surprised to find that more people live in rural England than live in Greater London…
LCC committee member James Bartholomeusz reflects on rural campaigning in the 2018 local elections. At least two things have happened to our public discourse since the EU referendum. On the one hand, the quality of democratic debate has degenerated into a shouting match between opposing sides, with neither even pausing to listen to what the…
In politics as in life, there is always a balance between the principled and the pragmatic. While Labour Coast and Country was established in 2012, its roots go back into the later days of the Blair government, and then the Brown administration, reflecting our principled ambitions then that “every child matters”, and the pragmatic reality that…
To govern the nation well means being in touch with the realities of the whole of the nation. To have a chance of representing the nation at the very least means being present in every community – whether you see representation as just providing a voice or an elected representative. Both can be of help…
Given the momentous vote of the 23rd June, and its implications for communities of coast and country, we urge every citizen to vote REMAIN. Labour: COAST & COUNTRY believes in the principles of cooperation and mutual support. The public sector has a vital role to play investing in a safer, more productive, more sustainable future, and…
Constituencies like the Vale of Glamorgan are exactly the sorts of seats Labour needs to win for Westminster – a mix of town, coast and country; of retired, working and not; of high skilled manufacturing, of city commuting and of local jobs. Labour needed to engage with seats like this in 2015, while the impending boundaries…
The recent Demos Report “Talk of the Town” seeks to highlight the very different “performance” of towns from their neighbouring cities. It has selected a range of measures through which to compare aspects positive and negative, to some extent social but more economic, through which to suggest how well each community is faring. I am not competent…
Sunday lunch-time of the first day of Conference 2015 saw over 40 members from across England and Wales gather to reflect on what next for Labour in communities of coast and country. After moving to a larger room to accommodate everyone more comfortably, a wide ranging discussion occupied those present for almost two hours. That discussion…
