OUR community was built on coal and that coal powered a nation.

In Barnsley, we are proud of this history. Our industrial heritage gives our people the resilience to get through the bad times and the doggedness to embrace opportunity. W

hen I think about the last 50 years in Barnsley, my first thought goes to the words embroidered on a banner in the local NUM.

‘The Past we Inherit, the Future We Build& ’

We shouldn’t ever shy away from our history; the prosperity it generated at the time and the challenges it has created since. Coal mining was not just the economic driver of our borough; the pits wove our social fabric together.

Communities thrived on the shared experience of powering a nation. In many ways, our community is still reeling from the impact of losing 40,000 jobs, but through the work of Labour-led Barnsley Council, we have so much to be proud of in our area.

Throughout the 50 years that Labour has run Barnsley Council, the council has not taken the easy option. It did not accept the fate that the Thatcher government handed to it or roll over when the Conservative government gave it some of largest cuts to a local government budget in the country, losing approximately £1m a year.

Instead, our Labour-led council embraced the words of that NUM banner and has harnessed the resilience of our community to look towards the future we wanted to build by delivering in the best interests of our community.

In Barnsley, 20,000 mining jobs, as well as 20,000 ancillary roles were lost when the pits closed. A whole way of life was lost overnight.

In villages like across our borough the impact has been devastating, with Grimethorpe being rated the poorest village in the country at one point. If you go through Barnsley today, we can see the work that Steve Houghton, leader of the council, has done to back our community, ending the downward spiral and completely transforming our borough’s fortunes.

The work of the council hasn’t stopped there, and we’ve seen the fruits of the council’s efforts recently. With the regeneration of our town centre, we’ve had the same number of visitors as York last year. In addition to the Centre for Cities recognising Barnsley’s impressive rate of economic growth, our town has been designated as the country’s first Tech Town, as covered on The One Show this week.

This will drive real change across our area, allowing us to harness the opportunities of the future.

This is only possible because Steve’s leadership of Barnsley Council has given us the foundations of a modern, thriving tech economy which looks ahead.

Many residents will have used the trailblazing Health on the High Street Hub in the Alhambra. With this centre, which was realised with a partnership with the council, the local NHS and the Labour government nationally, we are truly leading the revolution in delivering health services.

It’s estimated that 100,000 people will go through the doors of the centre in the Alhambra, with their care easy to reach, their services more joined up and suited to how people live their lives.

Barnsley Council has also backed our young people, introducing free bus travel across the borough for under 18s, providing uniform grants and GSCE revision packs. They were central in delivering the brilliant new Base71, which thanks to the Labour council, young people living in borough who are under 18 can access free membership for the first year.

For families more generally, Barnsley Council have introduced a cost-of-living grant to support households in managing their finances through the More Money in Your Pocket scheme.

They have also introduced record investment of £18m in roads around Barnsley and £2m for potholes. This includes funding for resurfacing, surface dressing, and retreading.

Day in day out as an MP in Barnsley, I see the fantastic work that people do across our community to make it a place to be proud of. The council is a real source of civic pride for our area.

They have been awarded council of the year twice in recent years, recognising the impressive performance of the council to bring huge benefits to our communities, namely with the excellent impressive regeneration of the town centre, all while keeping council tax increases to one of the lowest in the country for this financial year.

I know people are considering how they will vote in the locals this year on May 7. All I would ask from local residents is look around and see how far we’ve come, and don’t throw away the hard work that Barnsley Council has done to take care of our community, making it an excellent place to live, work and raise a family.