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BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Mid Cheshire: 'This area has massive untapped potential'
Despite Mid Cheshire boasting a proud heritage, some of its residents think it has often been overlooked and overshadowed by the likes of Chester, Liverpool and its councils are going to promote Mid Cheshire in an attempt to encourage more business investment in the area and lure more region comprises the three salt towns of Middlewich, Northwich and Winsford - where the commodity has been extracted since prehistoric times - and the surrounding what's included in the plan, what could it mean for the area, and what do residents want to see? "A bold and ambitious 15-year vision," is how the new plan for Mid Cheshire was described by Cheshire West and Chester Council at a recent covers areas including business investment, skills and infrastructure, and will also include the creation of a business-led board named the Mid-Cheshire Partnership."It's about tying together the areas in Mid Cheshire that have a shared history and a shared heritage, as well as having strong economic ties," said the council's deputy leader Karen local authority is keen to emphasise that the plan will not be led by the it is designed to be a collaboration with businesses, community groups and councillors are not Lynn Gibbon said that while the plan offered a "compelling vision" for the area, she had concerns."Vision without delivery is just a story and right now the Mid Cheshire Plan has serious weaknesses in its foundations especially when it comes to growing our rural economy," she told the meeting where it was ultimately approved."I support the ambition but I challenge you to sharpen the evidence, cost the actions and get serious about rural delivery because we can't afford another strategy that sounds good but delivers little." Andrew Cooper is the first MP for Mid Cheshire for more than 100 previous Mid Cheshire seat was abolished in the 19th it was reinstated in 2024 as a result of a boundary review, all three of Mid Cheshire's major towns were in different parliamentary was part of the Congleton seat, Northwich was included in Weaver Vale, while Winsford fell within the Eddisbury while the Mid Cheshire plan was approved by Cheshire West and Chester Council, Middlewich is actually part of the neighbouring Cheshire East a result, the plan includes the two councils working closely together."Something that I've pushed for a lot - for a long time - is trying to eliminate this idea of 'borderland thinking'," said Labour MP Cooper."So we have an arbitrary line that goes between Cheshire West and Cheshire East, sort of skirting around the outside of Middlewich."But the economies of Northwich, Winsford and Middlewich? They're not separate entities, they're interdependent, they're integrated into one another."I've felt for a long time that the councils need to work more closely together and need more of a strategic vision about how you make the economy of Mid Cheshire work." But what do people in the area think? And what do the want to see?On Witton Street in the heart of Northwich, Paul Esling told me that while he believes the town has a lot to offer, it sometimes gets "overlooked".He would like to see the return of free parking and a reduction of business rates to encourage more independent and artisan shops."I think we get a bit lost," said Mr Esling, "because we're sandwiched by Chester, Liverpool, Manchester."You've got towns like Alderley Edge and Knutsford that are seen to be quite salubrious and I think we can [also] get overlooked in that respect."But he said annual events, such as the Pina Colada Festival and the River Festival, certainly helped."If they can do more of this here, the traders would have a better chance."But also it brings people in who wouldn't normally be here and then they come along and think 'this is alright, actually'." 'A bit run-down' Viv Powell lives in Winsford and regularly visits her daughter and grandchild in told me she wanted to see more investment in local high streets to encourage people to stay in the area."I think they should spend a bit of money, because there are a lot of people who live in this area that would do a lot more shopping here," said Ms Powell."But if you go to Chester there's no point in coming back into Northwich to buy a loaf."That's what they should be encouraging people, saying you don't have to go far to have a good time. Stay in your local area."Shelia Forrest lives in the village of Hartford, which is about two miles (3km) southwest of Northwich and only about six or seven miles from Winsford and would loved to see more cultural activities in the area, as she currently often heads to Knutsford or Chester."Maybe a bit more art-centred things here to see," she Forrest praised Northwich's cinema and theatre but said she'd like to see more exhibitions in the also said Mid Cheshire's town centres could use a little TLC."It's a little bit run-down," she explained. "The area's nice where they built the cinema but I think they could have probably done a bit more."I think they could improve the centre, clean it up. If you go out to Knutsford, it isn't like that, it's nice. If you go to Chester, it's nice."You don't want people going out of area so I think this would improve it." The Mid Cheshire plan was approved in May and is still at an early funding has yet been secured, although Cheshire West and Cheshire Council believes the plan's mere existence will help with bids for MP Andrew Cooper is very optimistic."I genuinely believe that Mid Cheshire has massive amounts of untapped potential," he said."I hope people from Middlewich, Northwich and Winsford will see that their concerns about how much attention, how much economic planning goes into the development of the places where they live, [have] been taken seriously, it's happening and people are on it." Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
Times
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Local election 2025 results in maps and charts
Reform UK has taken control of Staffordshire and Lincolnshire county councils and looks set to make more sweeping gains across England, adding to overnight wins in the Runcorn & Helsby by-election and the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty. Votes are being counted this afternoon in the race for 1,600 council seats throughout England in what is looking like a very good set of results for Reform, and bad news for Labour and the Conservatives. Early results saw Reform making huge gains, winning control of Durham, Lincolnshire and Staffordshire county councils. In the early hours of this morning, Sarah Pochin become the newest MP in the House of Commons after gaining 12,645 votes, just six more than her Labour opponent, Karen Shore, making Runcorn and Helsby the closest by-election result in history. There was a 20 percentage point swing to Reform with the Conservatives finishing third, some 10,000 votes behind Pochin. To put the result into context, Runcorn and Helsby was Labour's 49th safest seat with a majority of more than 14,000 heading into the by-election. Although Runcorn & Helsby was close, the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty was not, with the former Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns winning by a hefty margin. Elsewhere in this year's local elections, Sir Keir Starmer's party successfully won the mayoral contests in North Tyneside, West of England and Doncaster by narrow margins, fending off large swings to Reform. In North Tyneside, Karen Clark won 16,230 votes (30 per cent) with Reform's John Falkenstein second with 15,786 votes (29 per cent) in what turned out to be an extremely close race. Compared with 2021, Labour's vote share dropped 23 percentage points. Another tight contest was in Doncaster, where Labour won by a margin of 700 votes. Ros Jones secured 23,805 votes (33 per cent), closely followed by Alexander Jones who had 23,107 votes (32 per cent). The West of England was won by Labour's Helen Godwin who secured 25 per cent of the vote, enough to beat Reform's Arron Banks on 22 per cent. Results are expected throughout Friday in council elections across England, with most declaring in the afternoon. The first declared council was Northumberland which remained under no overall control but saw Reform making huge inroads. The local elections can provide an indication of how voting may go in a future general election but they are just a guide. Nationally, Reform are leading the polls, followed by Labour and the Conservatives. Our latest tracker currently has Reform narrowly leading voting intention.
Powys County Times
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Powys County Times
Reform win sets new record for smallest by-election majority since 1945
Reform's victory at Runcorn & Helsby by just six votes has set a new record for the smallest majority at a parliamentary by-election since the end of the Second World War. Sarah Pochin took the seat with 12,645 votes, just ahead of Labour's Karen Shore, who received 12,639. Ms Pochin's majority of six votes is the narrowest win at a by-election since 1945 and easily beats the previous record of 57, which was set at a by-election in Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1973. She becomes only the third person in modern times to have won a by-election by fewer than 100 votes. Along with Alan Beith's victory for the Liberals at Berwick in 1973, the only other instance since the war was in 1967, when Frederick Silvester won Walthamstow West for the Conservatives with a majority of 62. Labour's narrowest win at a post-war by-election was in 1982 at Birmingham Northfield, when they took the seat by 289 votes. The result at Runcorn & Helsby also marks Reform's highest-ever share of the vote in a by-election. The party took 38.7% of the vote, more than double its previous best performance of 16.9% at Blackpool South in 2024, when they finished in third place. The swing in the share of the vote from Labour to Reform was 17.4 percentage points. This is slightly larger than the 16.0-point swing at Hartlepool in May 2021, which was the last time Labour was defeated at a by-election, on that occasion losing to the Conservatives. The turnout at Runcorn & Helsby, 46.2%, is the highest at a parliamentary by-election since 52.2% in June 2022 at Tiverton & Honiton, when the Liberal Democrats gained the seat from the Conservatives on a swing of 29.9 percentage points.
The Independent
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Reform win sets new record for smallest by-election majority since 1945
Reform's victory at Runcorn & Helsby by just six votes has set a new record for the smallest majority at a parliamentary by-election since the end of the Second World War. Sarah Pochin took the seat with 12,645 votes, just ahead of Labour's Karen Shore, who received 12,639. Ms Pochin's majority of six votes is the narrowest win at a by-election since 1945 and easily beats the previous record of 57, which was set at a by-election in Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1973. She becomes only the third person in modern times to have won a by-election by fewer than 100 votes. Along with Alan Beith's victory for the Liberals at Berwick in 1973, the only other instance since the war was in 1967, when Frederick Silvester won Walthamstow West for the Conservatives with a majority of 62. Labour's narrowest win at a post-war by-election was in 1982 at Birmingham Northfield, when they took the seat by 289 votes. The result at Runcorn & Helsby also marks Reform's highest-ever share of the vote in a by-election. The party took 38.7% of the vote, more than double its previous best performance of 16.9% at Blackpool South in 2024, when they finished in third place. The swing in the share of the vote from Labour to Reform was 17.4 percentage points. This is slightly larger than the 16.0-point swing at Hartlepool in May 2021, which was the last time Labour was defeated at a by-election, on that occasion losing to the Conservatives. The turnout at Runcorn & Helsby, 46.2%, is the highest at a parliamentary by-election since 52.2% in June 2022 at Tiverton & Honiton, when the Liberal Democrats gained the seat from the Conservatives on a swing of 29.9 percentage points.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Reform win sets new record for smallest by-election majority since 1945
Reform's victory at Runcorn & Helsby by just six votes has set a new record for the smallest majority at a parliamentary by-election since the end of the Second World War. Sarah Pochin took the seat with 12,645 votes, just ahead of Labour's Karen Shore, who received 12,639. Ms Pochin's majority of six votes is the narrowest win at a by-election since 1945 and easily beats the previous record of 57, which was set at a by-election in Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1973. She becomes only the third person in modern times to have won a by-election by fewer than 100 votes. Along with Alan Beith's victory for the Liberals at Berwick in 1973, the only other instance since the war was in 1967, when Frederick Silvester won Walthamstow West for the Conservatives with a majority of 62. Labour's narrowest win at a post-war by-election was in 1982 at Birmingham Northfield, when they took the seat by 289 votes. The result at Runcorn & Helsby also marks Reform's highest-ever share of the vote in a by-election. The party took 38.7% of the vote, more than double its previous best performance of 16.9% at Blackpool South in 2024, when they finished in third place. The swing in the share of the vote from Labour to Reform was 17.4 percentage points. This is slightly larger than the 16.0-point swing at Hartlepool in May 2021, which was the last time Labour was defeated at a by-election, on that occasion losing to the Conservatives. The turnout at Runcorn & Helsby, 46.2%, is the highest at a parliamentary by-election since 52.2% in June 2022 at Tiverton & Honiton, when the Liberal Democrats gained the seat from the Conservatives on a swing of 29.9 percentage points.
