Call for General Election

Steve Yemm Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to speak with you in the Chair, Sir Edward. I am very much an advocate of these e-petition debates, because they enable our constituents to set the agenda here in Westminster Hall. I thank the Petitions Committee for its hard work, as always. E-petition debates are an excellent example of our democracy in action, and their importance should never be underestimated.

Wherever possible, I have taken the chance to speak in each petition debate where Cannock Chase has been a top signatory, to make sure that I am present in discussions that my constituents so clearly want me to be a part of. That has included debates on animal slaughter, immigration and paternity pay—all topics more than deserving of time in this House. However, the reality of what we are here to debate this afternoon is that calling for a general election in this way is simply not how our democracy works.

The people who signed this petition who feel that they are unhappy with the Government, or feel that things have not changed in the way they hoped—or perhaps as quickly as they expected—have every right to voice those frustrations. As an MP who lives in their constituency, who holds weekly surgeries and who goes out knocking on doors, I am not naive about the reasons why this petition has gathered more than a million signatures. I hear week in, week out about the difficulties and challenges that my constituents face.

One of the criticisms that is levelled at politicians is that we are incapable of thinking in the long term, that we are bound by four or five-year terms—perhaps even less if this petition got its way—and that there is therefore not enough time to focus on tackling the systemic issues that lead to the things that many of our constituents want us to address. We only need to look across the Atlantic to see what having elections every two years does to political culture and the ability of leaders to get things done.

So many Government Members talk about the last 14 years, not only because of the decline that we and a great majority of the public feel that Britain suffered during that time, but because of the short-term thinking during those four terms, which led to mammoth challenges such as a crisis in the public finances, crumbling infrastructure, prisons at bursting point, the NHS on its knees, net immigration of more than 1 million a year, small boats crossing the channel, asylum hotels—the list goes on. This Government are doing the unusual thing of rejecting the sticking-plaster politics of the short-term sugar rush, and instead going about the difficult job of fixing the big issues that Britain faces, some of which have been decades in the making.

[Steve Yemm (Mansfield) (Lab)]

Might my hon. Friend agree that the very idea of calling a general election would undermine the whole principle of representative democracy, particularly in communities like mine and his that voted for long-term political change rather than a short-term set of solutions and political churn?

[Josh Newbury]

Absolutely. I could not agree more. Knocking on doors during the general election campaign I was struck by my constituents who, contrary to what we might think when we see opinion polls that, particularly these days, waver quite dramatically, really wanted us to knuckle down and focus on tackling in a four or five-year term the long-term issues that we know are there in our country and need to be tackled.

When I was preparing for this debate I wondered where Prime Ministers of yesteryear were after 18 months into their tenure, so I had a look. Margaret Thatcher, who I will never praise but who it is fair to say did make decisions with a belief in doing the right thing rather than the popular thing, was 13% behind in the polls in December 1980. John Major was 22% behind. Tony Blair was 28% ahead, happily undermining my point, but Gordon Brown was 7% behind and David Cameron a few per cent behind. The right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak) was 23% behind, and just a month later decided to call a general election. Few Governments enjoy widespread support 18 months into their time in office, but few have addressed as rapidly an inheritance like the one this Government were left just 18 months ago. I do not know about other hon. Members, but I quite enjoy a bit of positivity. Blue Monday is just around the corner, but anyone listening to some of the contributions in this debate might be mistaken in thinking that it is today.

The reality is that after a year of Labour, our NHS has received a £29 billion boost in funding. That translated into more than 5 million additional appointments, which, contrary to the talk of broken promises, was more than double what we promised in our manifesto. We secured a £400 million investment to boost clinical trials, improving NHS services and driving growth, and we brought 1,000 GPs into the workforce. I worked in a supporting role in general practice before I came into this place, and I know the difference that that investment is already making. One thousand practices are being modernised, including Chadsmoor medical practice, Rawnsley surgery and Red Lion surgery in my constituency. In the Budget, the Chancellor also froze prescription charges, and we are opening 250 new neighbourhood health centres so that our constituents can get treated closer to home.

Perhaps more than anything else, the NHS is a prime example of the cost of short termism and the lack of investment in our public services that we saw under the previous Government, and the progress that this Government are making in short order. NHS satisfaction figures, much like opinion polls, reflect the fact that we have a long way to go, but we have made rapid progress towards rebuilding.

In my part of the world and in many other coalfield communities, our retired mineworkers who powered this country and did one of the most dangerous jobs anyone can do were ignored for 14 years. But within 18 months of this Labour Government, members of both the mineworkers’ pension scheme and the British Coal staff superannuation scheme won the pension justice that they had fought so long for. With the transfer of £2.3 billion to members of the BCSSS and £1.5 billion to the MPS, another historic injustice so dismissively overlooked under the previous Government has been righted under this Government.

On transport, for the first time since the 1990s we have frozen rail fares, which will help millions of our constituents save money. Last year, the Government confirmed backing for the improved M54-M6 link road, which will directly benefit commuters in Cannock Chase. The Bus Services Act 2025 will give transport authorities the ability to seize the opportunities of franchising and council-owned bus companies. On education, a quarter of children in my constituency are on free school meals—significantly above the national average—so I am proud that we are rolling out free breakfast clubs across the country, making sure children go to school nourished and ready to learn.

The Government also announced funding for 300 new nurseries, including Heath Hayes primary academy in my constituency, which opened the doors of its new nursery back in September. Recently, we scrapped the two-child benefit cap. Although Opposition Members might disagree with lifting thousands of children in my towns and villages, and 550,000 children across the country, out of poverty, I think it solves another stain on our country and is an investment in the future long-term success of our country.

We have announced homes for heroes, which will ensure that our veterans, as well as domestic abuse survivors and care leavers, get a roof over their heads—something that we have acted quickly on when nothing of the sort was done under the previous Government in 14 years, let alone 18 months. Hon. Members will be pleased to learn that I do not plan to list all of this Government’s achievements—time is far too short for that—but I am sure many of my colleagues will be able to expand. Looking into this year, by March we will have more police on our streets, and by April more health hubs and an average of £150 off energy bills, with much more to come.

Positive change takes time. We know that from many decades of history in this House and in town halls up and down this country. Labour was elected with a resounding victory, a large majority and a mandate to make decisions that turn this country around. Anybody looking at our manifesto can see a vision of what Britain will look like by the time we get to the next general election. That is how our political system works. That is how British Governments have always been judged; they get four or five years and then the public have their say. That is true of our activities as individual MPs—the only people who can speak up for the communities that we represent in this place. In my first 18 months, I am proud to have spoken more than 110 times on a huge range of topics. That is more than seven times what my predecessor managed in her final 18 months representing the people of Cannock Chase. I have held surgeries in villages that have never had an MP offer face-to-face appointments, and I hope to be able to continue that for many years to come.

Speaker’s Statement

Steve Yemm Excerpts

Monday 25th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I served in this place with John Prescott for many years, and I admired him from afar as being a true Labour man and a man of true grit. I am not sure that my admiration of him was reciprocated, but I held him in great affection. My first memory of him was in 1983, when I arrived in this place as a new Member of Parliament. I gave a speech, during which I could see John grunting and looking furious. He probably thought I was an absurd, young, opinionated Thatcherite brat—and he was probably right.

Talking of Mrs Thatcher, my next memory of him was when I saw him having a quiet supper in the little Members’ canteen we used to have downstairs. The moment my boss, Mrs Thatcher, came in, I could see John waving his hands in fury at her for all that she had done. Neil Kinnock leaned over and said, “Calm down, John, calm down.” I thought, “Here is a man of real strong opinion.” We have so many anaemic politicians today—I am not looking at anybody in particular—so it was wonderful to have a man like John Prescott on the Opposition Benches.

John much mellowed and it was a great joy to serve with him on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. I remember him saying that his children wanted him to go on “Strictly Come Dancing”, but he decided not to. That would have been something for the history books—John Prescott on “Strictly Come Dancing”!

As a local Member of Parliament, I pay tribute to John Prescott. I used to take my children to The Deep, and he did a great many things for Hull. I wish hon. Members could have watched Look North, our local television news programme, and seen the tributes paid by local people, who said how loved he was in Hull and how hard he worked for the people. He was a great man and he will be sorely missed.

[Steve Yemm (Mansfield) (Lab)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I was deeply saddened to hear about the death of John Prescott. I send my condolences to Pauline, his sons and all those who were close to him. I considered him to be a good friend of mine and of Mansfield. He was a giant of a man and a champion of the coalfields, devolution, local government and climate action.

I first met John in the 1980s, as an activist in the Labour party, and enjoyed supporting him in his first campaign to be deputy leader in 1988, and in his campaign to be leader and deputy leader in 1994. His legacy includes setting up the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, which was established to help support former coalfield areas in communities such as Mansfield that had been impacted by the pit closure programmes of the 1980s and 1990s. That helped ensure that my area received millions of pounds of funding.

John had a particularly strong link to my constituency of Mansfield, especially through my Labour predecessor, Sir Alan Meale, who was his parliamentary private secretary for some years. Anecdotally, I can recall many endearing memories of John, including a time when we were playing table tennis in Sir Alan’s front yard in Mansfield. It was a lovely sunny day and we were enjoying our game in the garden, on a day when the Prime Minister was out of the country on business. An important call came through that John had to take, and we paused our game. To this day, I have no idea who it was or what was said, but the conversation clearly distracted John so much that when he arrived back, he hit the ball with such force that it bounced right off the table and hit the ministerial car. From that experience, I can assure the House that the left hook still packed a mighty punch.

In the years after John left office, I would often drive him back to the station at Newark or Doncaster after his many visits to Mansfield, so he could get the train to London or back home to Hull. The insights from his frank and honest recollections of history from the Blair and Brown years will stay with me for a very long time. May he rest in peace.

[David Davis (Goole and Pocklington) (Con)]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. When I first arrived in the House, it was common in the Conservative party—the Thatcherite Conservative party, I say to my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh)—to view John Prescott as public enemy No. 1. It was an act that he loved playing into, in public at least. That being said, outside the studio or the Chamber, he was friendly and helpful, certainly to me. Indeed, he was almost the best possible constituency neighbour one could want.

John Prescott was quintessentially a working-class hero—an identity that I suspect the current Deputy Prime Minister also adopts. Of course, he was a brilliant constituency ally and a forceful defender of the interests of the people of Hull, with the emphasis on force. However, he was also a necessary champion of the new Labour party. The Prime Minister referred implicitly to the fact that John Prescott delivered one man, one vote. We should remember that it was an act of huge courage for him to take on his own union allies, I think at about one hour’s notice, and persuade them to support the neophyte Tony Blair.

Frankly, despite the snobbery of the London establishment about John Prescott’s education, it was a very unwise person who underestimated his intellect. He was a formidable and brilliant innovator on—I am looking at the Environment Secretary—the environment, on Europe, on devolution and on a whole range of things. He was what we would all hope to be: not a creature of history, but a changer of history. For that, we should always admire him.

To put to one side all those grand things, he was also greatly, greatly loved by his family. On that basis, I offer my condolences to Pauline and the rest of the family.