Lancashire MPs react to Prime Minister’s resignation

A Central Lancashire MP says Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation has created a “huge opportunity” for the government to be more bold in dealing with the daily challenges faced by households across the country.

Paul Foster, who represents the South Ribble constituency, was one of more than a hundred Labour MPs who had already publicly called for the Prime Minister to quit amid the fallout from last month’s local election results.

After Sir Keir announced his imminent departure from Downing Street on Monday morning, Mr. Foster – who was elected to Parliament as part of the PM’s landslide victory in 2024 – told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he would be backing Andy Burnham to lead the party and the country. He had previously criticised the Prime Minister over the Peter Mandelson affair.

“Sir Keir Starmer is a decent man, as I’ve always said – but I feel it was inevitable that he would resign following a number of continuing self-inflicted challenges his government created,” said Mr. Foster, who was the leader of South Ribble Borough Council for five years before becoming an MP.

“I have been privately and publicly stating for months now that, as the ruling party, we must set out a clear vision that the country can get behind – not keep dwelling on historic events.

“This is now a huge opportunity to change the narrative, be bold, be brave – and front up and deal with the real challenges people are facing on a daily basis up and down the country. We must not be afraid to do what we need to do to give everyone real hope and opportunity.

“I will be fully supporting Andy Burnham to take over as our leader and he has my wholehearted support.”

The LDRS has approached all 12 Lancashire Labour MPs for comment on the Prime Minister’s resignation and to seek their thoughts on who should replace him.

Lizzi Collinge, another Lancashire member of the 2024 Labour intake at Westminster, praised Sir Keir’s commitment to the country and some of his achievements during his time in the top job.

However, the Morecambe and Lunesdale member said he had “made the right decision to resign” and “shown remarkable grace in the way he has done so” – but she did comment on who should succeed him at number 10..

Speaking to the LDRS, Ms. Collinge added:  “I will always be grateful to Keir for his leadership of our party, taking us back to success in the 2024 election. He is someone dedicated to public service and he has shown that, both at home and in his leadership on the international stage.

“The Prime Minister has repaired our country’s reputation around the world, showing dedication to the ideals of liberal democracy and the international rules-based order. He has rebuilt bridges with our allies both in Europe and elsewhere, allowing for co-ordinated and confident action in Ukraine and [other places].

“As Prime Minister, Keir inherited a very difficult situation from the last government, with problems at every level. Under Keir’s leadership, the Labour government has brought many positive changes to our country through transformative legislation.

“However, it was clear to me that he had lost people’s confidence and so it was time to change direction. My loyalty is always to my constituents and my country – and I will always support what I see as the best for them.

“This isn’t about different views or groups within the Labour Party – a factor usually grossly over-emphasised by the Westminster press. This is about the future of our country.

“It is Labour values and policies that have reduced NHS waiting lists, improved employee rights, decreased inflation and interest rates, are fighting climate change and which have started to turn our country round. This is the way we will continue to rebuild our country.”

Meanwhile, Blackpool South MP Chris Webb, who entered Parliament in a by-election just two months before the general election in 2024 – and subsequently retained his seat – thanked Sir Keir for “his service to our country and our party” .

He said the PM had “come through for Blackpool” during his time in office by “delivering a £20m Pride in Place investment, funding two new SEND schools, introducing plans to turn Blackpool and the Fylde College into a Defence Technical Excellence College, securing more defence jobs across our region and agreeing to close our asylum hotel after I made the case to him directly”.

“In private conversations, Keir also made clear his commitment to doing more for Blackpool. Over the coming weeks, I will be working hard to ensure those commitments are honoured.”

Mr. Webb also praised what he said was a strengthened economy, reduced NHS waiting lists and a restored international reputation achieved on the PM’s watch.

However, he added: “As Keir himself said this morning, he was the right person to restore our party and bring us into power, but the country has made it clear that he is not the person to lead us into the next general election. The local election results were devastating for Labour and the public made it clear that they wanted to see change. The decision he has taken today is the right one and he has taken it with dignity – he leaves office with my thanks and respect.

“But politics must always be about the future and our mission now is to restore the hope we all felt following the General Election two years ago.

“Going forward, Andy Burnham has my full support. I voted for Andy in both the 2010 and 2015 leadership contests because I believed then, as I do now, that he understands the challenges facing working people and communities like ours. He has the ability to connect with the public, to inspire hope and to honestly articulate why difficult decisions sometimes need to be made.

“The Makerfield by-election and his time as Greater Manchester Mayor prove that Andy can bring communities together, deliver change and lift up places that have been left behind by Westminster – something we feel strongly in Blackpool.”

Burnley MP Oliver Ryan also thanked Sir Keir for “his service to our country”, but said his decision to step down was “the right one, for lots of reasons”.

In a statement issued to the constituency that first elected him in 2024, he added:  “Quite often in politics, especially in this polarised world, we forget the person – the husband and father trying to do his best. Keir is a decent man, under whom Labour went from one of our greatest defeats in 2019 to our second-greatest win in 2024.

“After 14 years of Tory decline, under his leadership, Labour introduced the biggest improvements to workers’ and renters rights in a generation, we have driven down ambulance and hospital waiting times at record speed and funded councils properly again, we’ve grown the economy [and] lifted 7,000 Burnley kids out of relative poverty by lifting the two-child cap.  Immigration is down 85 percent, we’ve brought interest rates and consumer inflation down, while real wages have gone up more over the last two years than under the last 10 years under the Tories – and more.

“Burnley, Padiham and Brierfield have benefited from that progress, though I know it doesn’t always feel like it. I’m the first to say we’ve made some big mistakes and not gone far enough on some things like foreign policy or welfare – and I’m not telling you everything is hunky-dory. For better or for worse, we must always deal with the world as it is, not as we’d like it to have been.

“People now want the next stage of change: growth, money in their pockets, opportunity, sound national finances, improving public services, a sense of control of their own destiny, and more. People want someone who gets what it’s like in our area – someone who really understands what matters to us.

“I’ll say more on who should come next at a later date, but to give you a straight answer, I believe the right choice for the country now – and to win back people whose confidence we have lost is…Andy Burnham MP.”

Writing on Facebook, Blackpool North and Fleetwood MP Lorraine Beavers – another who had already said the PM should quit and another 2024 Westminster debutant – said his resignation was “sad to see”.

She added: “He has lifted half a million children out of poverty, strengthened the rights of workers and renters, given power and money to disadvantaged communities like mine and begun the important work of renationalising our railways. His leadership has kept us from being drawn into chaotic, unnecessary wars and for that, our country will always be grateful.

“However, communities like mine, who have been decimated by years of austerity and privatisation, still feel unheard. This is why I called for his resignation.

“For too long, the voice of the North has been drowned out by a Westminster too focussed on London – and I know that other communities across the country feel the same. Andy Burnham ran a campaign in Makerfield based on hope, fairness, justice and a redistribution of power, securing an overwhelming victory. His success proves that these are the values people want to see and, as the Labour Party, we must now work to the same goal.”

In a statement on Facebook, Rossendale and Darwen MP Andy MacNae acknowledged that “days like today are hard on a human level”.

He added: “Keir Starmer took our party from the depths of our 2019 defeat and led the root and branch reform that made Labour fit to govern again. Through enormous challenges at home and abroad, he has always sought to make this country a better place to live. I want to thank him and his family for their service to us all.

“It is right that we as a party should now come together to forge a new path forward. We were elected to deliver change. Change that must be seen and felt in every corner of our country – and we must act with urgency to see this delivered. More of the same will simply not be enough.

“We can no longer look like defenders of the status quo. We must share the British people’s rightful frustration at decades of underinvestment and falling standards. I look forward to working with colleagues from across the party in the weeks, months and years ahead to make this a reality.”