Burnley Express letters | The new Burnley MP has some big shoes to fill

So Burnley, along with the rest of the country, is under new management.

Democracy is a funny and rather unforgiving creature, but nonetheless, the ballot has spoken. Therefore, I offer my congratulations to Oliver Ryan on being elected as our MP. I am writing this time, however, to look back a little and thank the outgoing Antony Higginbotham for all he has done for us in the last four and half years.

I wrote previously to say why I was voting for him; that he spoke up for us in Parliament, secured tremendous funding for our town, and was highly accessible to his constituents. I sincerely hope that Mr Ryan will continue this good work and help Burnley (and Padiham) continue its long journey to prosperity.

My involvement in local politics has evolved and varied since Antony took office all the way back in 2019, with times of triumph and times of frustration. But whether up or down, it was an enormous privilege to have worked with Antony and see first-hand the incredible hard work and dedication it takes to be a good MP.

Antony lost a great number of colleagues, many also great MPs, but Burnley in particular has lost a very special Parliamentarian who ensured that we weren’t taken for granted. Mr Ryan has only just stepped into his new role and so we await to see how he spends his time in office. But what I can say however is that he has some rather large shoes to fill and for the sake of our town, I hope he indeed fills them.

For me, Antony was not only an MP but a friend too. Whenever he was relieved of his extensive duties towards Parliament and his constituency, he was not some aloof figure with an interesting job title, he was Antony and thus humanised the role. There is a peculiar camaraderie in politics which all parties will know. Referring to our country’s leader and other great ministers of state by their first names in conversation as though they are someone in a different department at work, never ceases to feel strange and a little special. And although we are not perfect, the majority of us involved feel duty-bound to serve, and we will continue to do so however we can.

So, even though we are disappointed by the result, we accept that Labour won this general election fairly and squarely. We Conservatives must take stock and reflect so that we know what we need to do to regain the trust of the people and deliver for them.

But before that, it is right to say Antony served our town very well and so I thank him for his time as our MP, it has been an honour to have been even a small part of it.