Keir Starmer has now resigned as Prime Minister. It is a serious moment for the country, for the Labour Party, and for everyone who wants politics to deliver real change.
Keir deserves our thanks. He put public service back at the heart of government, began the work of rebuilding our economy, and made sure communities like ours were no longer ignored. No Prime Minister gets everything right, and people in West Cumbria are rightly impatient for change to come faster, but Keir led with decency, patriotism and a deep sense of duty.
Over the past two years, we have got a lot done for West Cumbria. Progress on Pioneer Park and the next generation of nuclear jobs. NHS waiting lists down 15 percent and more GPs, NHS dentists and mental health professionals. Pushing forward plans to upgrade the Cumbrian Coast Line, expand the Port of Workington, and revive our town centres. Funding has been delivered for new bus services, better roads, warmer homes, more support for vulnerable children and families and to invest in left behind neighbourhoods. We kept our promises to put in place the biggest boost to workers rights and protections for private renters in a generation.
But I also know that for too many people, change still feels too slow, too cautious and too distant from everyday life.
People will have their views about what has happened and what should happen next. The answer cannot be business as usual. The country needs government to be bolder and move faster.
That means backing places like ours with serious industrial ambition, not managing decline. It means delivering new nuclear, fixing our railways, improving our buses, rebuilding public services and making sure more government investment reaches communities that have been overlooked for too long. It means being honest about what has not worked, learning from it, and having the courage to go further.
It is very likely that Andy Burnham will become Prime Minister in the coming weeks. I have long admired Andy’s ability to speak plainly about the places and people too often overlooked by Westminster and I share his frustration about Westminster’s failure to deliver the change we need quickly and in a big way. If he becomes Prime Minister, I believe he can help Labour reconnect with working people and deliver the bigger, bolder change I’ve outlined above which our area and the country needs.
My message to constituents is simple. I will keep fighting for West Cumbria. I will keep pushing government to deliver on our priorities. I will keep being honest about where we need to go faster. And I will work with others, across our movement and our community, to build the bigger, bolder Labour government our country now needs.
Josh MacAlister MP 