Gerrard Raven believes Andy Beckett is worrying unnecessarily about the potential unraveling of the Preston model if Reform UK were to capture the council. Raven points out that Reform UK currently holds just one seat on Preston city council, and with 16 of the 48 seats up for election in May, including the one held by Reform, the party could theoretically win 16 seats, but that would hardly constitute capturing the council. He notes that one election prediction website tips Reform to win only two Preston seats.
Barnsley's Transformation Under Labour
Misia Newsome writes that Preston is not the only northern town significantly improved by an effective Labour council. She and her Barnsley-born husband recently visited Barnsley and found the town transformed, not just by a new health hub but by thoughtful regeneration. The town centre is modernised, and the legendary market remains vibrant. Newsome observes that last Saturday, Reform UK was canvassing in the town centre, but there was no Labour stall to remind people of the changes made. She hopes local people celebrate these real achievements and do not switch to Reform, which would be a slap in the face to councillors who have worked hard to improve Barnsley over many years.
Neglected Suffragette Heritage
Austen Lynch comments that while Andy Beckett saw the bustling streets and well-maintained public buildings of the Preston model, he missed a significant site of Preston's radical heritage. The Harris museum recently received a bronze statue commemorating suffragette Edith Rigby, but the house in Winckley Square where she lived and built homemade bombs for the women's suffrage campaign is in a shameful state of boarded-up dereliction. Lynch notes that the city council has served an urgent works notice on the owners of the Grade II-listed property, but the house, with its graffiti proclaiming 'Edith deserves better than this!', speaks more loudly than any bronze memorial. He asserts that Edith and the proud radical history of Preston's people deserve better.
