Andy Burnham will be good for Blackpool and towns like it - resort MP Chris Webb
“We’ve had many a conversation on how we can work together to improve Blackpool”
Andy Burnham will be good for Blackpool because he genuinely supports areas which have been forgotten, says resort MP Chris Webb.
The Blackpool South politician was responding after being asked about Labour’s leadership struggle and whether he had a conflict of opinion over support for Prime Minister-in-waiting Burnham or loyalty to outgoing leader Keir Starmer.
Mr Webb said that although he had positive views about working with Starmer, he felt that Burnham would work out best for the country and for Blackpool.
He said: “My support for Andy is no secret, he’s a good friend who has supported me in every election I’ve stood in.
“We’ve been friends since 2009 when he first came to Blackpool as Health Secretary.
“My politics, my objectives in being a politician have always been aligned with Andy’s.
“With Keir, it’s on the record that I didn’t vote for him as leader of the party, I voted for someone else but I’ve always been loyal to the leader.
“I will be honest about this, it was difficult at times to get to the Prime Minister about issues in Blackpool, whether that was the machine or his team around him, I don’t know.
“But when I did, and I asked him to release the constituency cap for the Pride in Place scheme, he did it. When I asked him to close the Metropole as an asylum hotel, he did it.
“When I asked him to put the case about Infant Formula, a big concern of mine about its cost and availability to struggling families, he did it.
“So Keir has been a friend to Blackpool but the local elections were clear in showing that the public had lost confidence in him.
“Whilst he is a decent and honest man, in politics you have to ensure you have the backing of the public and they spoke loud and clear in the local elections that they wanted to see a change in the Labour party and they weren’t happy with our leadership and direction.
“I do believe Keir did the right thing for the party and the country and I'm looking forward to Andy becoming Prime Minister and to delivering on the vision that he set out for the country.
“I believe that vision will improve the forgotten areas like Blackpool and Markerfield (Burnham’s constituency) and we’ve had many a conversation since he’s been an MP, and will continue to do so, on how we can work together to improve Blackpool - and communities like it across the country.
“I think there’s hope again, the country’s already responded to this, we've seen the polls and now Labour are pretty much neck and neck with the the next party (Reform UK) and I think they will only get better as people hear more from Andy Burnham in the weeks and months ahead, as he becomes Prime Minister.”