The Prime Minister has told the country that he will be leaving office, and now Labour will choose a new leader who will then form a government. The process will start on July 9th when Labour’s National Executive Committee opens nominations, and will be completed before Parliament resumes after its summer recess, perhaps as early as July 17th.
Whoever becomes Prime Minister they will be working hard to deliver Labour’s mandate for change. And whatever happens, and whoever takes over, Labour councillors will continue to push the Labour government to do all it can for Cambridge, in the short and long term.
As we prepare for this change we should remember what the government has achieved under Keir Starmer. Since July 2024 we have seen a huge shift from 14 long years of austerity under the Conservatives to new investments for our public services. In less than 2 years, the Labour Government delivered on key promises that are so important for residents in Cambridge: introduced free breakfast clubs and free childcare for families, scrapped the two-child benefit cap, recognised Palestine as a state, created Great British Energy, launched the warm homes plan to invest in energy efficiency in up to 5 million homes and of course made major moves towards rail renationalisation. The Employment Rights Act banned exploitative zero-hour contracts and strengthened protections against unfair dismissal, and the Renters’ Rights Act has made life for tenants more secure.
This is a record we should be proud of. As Keir Starmer said, his successor will “inherit a Britain that is far better and fairer than the one I inherited two years ago.”
Cambridge Labour will continue to build more affordable council homes, support communities and vulnerable residents to tackle poverty, and invest in greening our city with planting new trees, protecting green spaces and becoming a Net Zero Council by 2030. We are also focused on the changes facing Cambridge. We have to manage the complex process of moving to a unitary authority. We have to work to shape the Greater Cambridge Development Corporation so that it supports our ambitions for Cambridge.
Cambridge Labour wants to make sure that we continue make our city and country fairer and better. We still have much to do nationally, like creating a stronger economy, improving public services, meeting our targets for building 1.5 million homes over five years and moving the UK to zero-carbon electricity by 2030, and we will help to achieve these important goals, while always ensuring that policies are delivered in a way that works for the people of Cambridge.
