Last week’s local election results were a shock to the system, and very disappointing.
Across the country, and here locally in St Helens, many hardworking councillors lost their seats, people who have dedicated years of their lives to serving their communities with commitment. I want to offer my sincere commiserations to every candidate who was unsuccessful, particularly my Labour colleagues, many of whom I have had the privilege to call friends.
What makes these results especially difficult is that, in the last year alone, with a Labour council, Labour city region leadership and a Labour Government working together, we had finally begun to see investment and improvement return to St Helens on a scale not seen since the beginning of austerity. For the first time in many years, people could see genuine progress being made in our town, from regeneration and infrastructure investment to renewed confidence in our public services and communities. It would be a real shame to see that momentum lost or allowed to go to waste.
At the same time, I want to offer my honest congratulations to all those who were elected, from every political party.
While many of you may hold different political views, that should never prevent us from working collaboratively in the interests of the people we were elected to serve. I sincerely hope your transition into these new roles is smooth, and that you will always remember what this job is truly about, not political point scoring or winning arguments, but improving the everyday lives of the vulnerable and hardworking people.
These results must also serve as a wakeup call for the Labour Party nationally. We now have a serious responsibility in Parliament to reflect on why so many people chose to turn away from us, and what more we must do to rebuild trust and confidence before the next General Election. There must be a period of honest self-reflection and urgent improvement. The public have delivered a clear message, and it is up to us to listen carefully, and work every day to earn back their
support.
