The Labour Party Chair, Ian Lavery MP, has been in Southport to speak to Labour campaigners ahead of the local elections on May 2nd.
Southport is one of the few political battlegrounds in Merseyside. Labour finished in a strong second place in the 2017 General Election with the Lib Dems pushed from first to third place. Labour also performed strongly in the 2018 local elections winning seats from the Lib Dems, who lost 25% of their councillors last year.
Labour is looking to win more seats at this year’s local elections to continue their progress in Southport – putting them in a strong position to take the seat at the next general election.
Lavery met Labour’s candidates in the local elections, local party activists and the town’s Parliamentary Candidate, Liz Savage.
He said he was “absolutely delighted” to find the mood of the campaign so buoyant but was not surprised given the hard work being put in to turn around years of Conservative and Lib Dem neglect.
Ian Lavery, said:
“Brutal Conservative and Lib Dem cuts have devastated services locally; the local hospital is under immense strain; local schools have lost millions in funding and crime has risen because the Tories and Lib Dems cut 1 in 4 police officers and 1 in 2 local PCSOs. They will have cut nearly a quarter of a billion pounds from the local authority by next year.
“The local Conservative and Lib Dem councillors supported this, even though it’s caused immense distress and difficulty. I’ve always thought that local councillors should be protecting local services, not standing by and clapping when they are cut.”
“Contrast that with the efforts Labour is making locally to counter the effect of the cuts. Labour has a real desire to work with local business for the good of Southport, as seen recently with the local authority and Pleasureland deal that it’s estimated will bring 1,000 jobs here over the next decade. Rebuilding our towns, communities, services, and country is at the very heart of what we want to achieve.”
Liz Savage, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Southport, said the deal was just one of a series Labour initiatives that would bring benefit locally:
“The Metro Mayor has also made clear he wants local business to work with the local authority to present a strong case for the £500m in strategic investment funding he has available – that too could be transformative for Southport.
“Then you have the £460m investment that Labour-run Merseytravel is making to its trains and network, which will speed up links to Liverpool and beyond. With more Labour councillors here we can build on all of this, help protect our services and on our work in the community helping local residents.
Southport needs the desire to rebuild that only Labour has, not the constant tearing apart that the opposition indulges in locally.”
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