I am delighted to announce the winners of my Christmas Card Design Competition. Pupils from across Newcastle-under-Lyme sent in their submissions, and with so many thoughtful and creative designs, it was incredibly difficult to narrow the entries down to just three. Seeing the imagination and talent of pupils from across our community has been a real highlight, and I’m grateful to every school that encouraged their pupils to take part. The top three designs were: 1st Place –

Watch my speech in Parliament on the Budget (27 November 2025) During the Budget debate in the House of Commons, I set out why the announcements in the Budget matter for people across Newcastle-under-Lyme – from long-overdue justice for former miners, to lifting nearly 1,800 local children out of poverty, making progress on support for our family farms, backing our NHS staff, and marking one year since the closure of Walleys Quarry. This Budget won’t solve every challenge ove

On Friday, I joined the Minnie Pit commemoration steering group, the Mayor and local residents in Halmer End for a very special moment – the planting of a new “Tree of Hope” at the memorial garden. The sapling is one of 49 grown by the National Trust from seeds taken from the Sycamore Gap tree, which was illegally felled in 2023. The number of saplings reflects the height of the original tree in feet, and it’s wonderful that one of the first has now been planted here in our c