Josh Newbury MP

A statement from Josh Newbury MP which reads: “I welcome the decision by the Secretary of State to withdraw the cancellation of the local elections due to take place on 7th May 2026. Although the decision of whether to apply for a cancellation of these elections was rightly a decision for councillors, I had made it clear to anyone who asked me that I personally wanted to see them go ahead. This decision means residents across Cannock Chase will now go to the polls as planned. Local elections are about accountability and giving people the chance to choose who represents them and makes decisions on behalf of our towns and villages. I am pleased the elections will now go ahead and I look forward to getting out across Cannock Chase, campaigning alongside our Labour candidates and making the case for honest, community-focused leadership over the politics of division.”

Below is a 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 from me on the decision to proceed with all local elections due across England, including here in Cannock Chase, on 7th May 2026 👇🏻

Alongside The Dad Shift and fellow Labour MPs, I’ll keep pushing for better paternity leave so spending those first weeks with your baby is a choice, not a luxury 👷🏻‍♂️

Let’s make sure dads have the freedom to protect and provide, with the Government having their back 👍🏻

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Fixing this would 👇🏻
👶🏻 give dads more precious time at home
👨🏽‍💼 improve dads’ mental health and performance at work,
🏥 enable dads to support their partners who need to recover from birth complications,
👩🏼‍🏭 set up more equal caregiving meaning women are able to work longer hours.

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This matters for moms too - unequal caregiving in those early weeks sets a pattern that often leads to breakups 💔 Polling from @dadshiftuk.bsky.social shows 40% of couples with young children who’ve split say unequal childcare was a key factor; 60% point to bad paternity leave as a cause.

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This Valentine’s Day, I’m thinking about the dads who can’t afford to take paternity leave they’re entitled to and be there with their newborn in those crucial first weeks 👨🏻‍🍼 And if you're self-employed, pat leave isn't an option at all; there's no government support like moms can get.

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A photo of Josh Newbury, the Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase, standing by a giant Valentine's Day card. On the front of the card is a red line drawing of a cherub holding a balloon shaped like a broken heart. In large red letter above and below the cherub are the words: "Two weeks isn't enough".

Roses are red, violets are blue,
But new dads get just two.

Two weeks on pay that won’t cover the rent,
While Europe gives more - fair leave, better spent.

If love means sharing life, then let’s make it right,
Give every dad a chance to hold their little one through the night ❤️

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As a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, I look forward to having many discussions on the Strategy in the months to come, diving into the detail and asking the questions that need to be asked 👍🏻 Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions on the Strategy.

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A photo of Josh Newbury, Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase, standing alongside Baroness Hayman, the Government Minister responsible for animal welfare. They are holding a red placard bearing a line drawing of a puppy and the Labour Party logo along with the words: “Labour is the Party of animal welfare”.

The Government has set high ambitions that will benefit animals from homes to farms and wildlife 🐈‍⬛🐓🦡 Just before the RSPCA event, I was in a meeting with Baroness Hayman, the Minister responsible for animal welfare, where we talked timescales and open and upcoming consultations.

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A photo of Josh Newbury, Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase, standing in front of a banner bearing the RSPCA logo. Josh is wearing a light blue suit and a floral tie and is holding an RSPCA placard with the words: “I’m speaking up for every kind”.

Huge thanks to @rspca-pateam.bsky.social for holding an event in Parliament this week focused on how we can turn the Government's 𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 into reality 🐕🐄🦌

Animal welfare means a lot to me and I get lots of emails on this from residents across Cannock Chase ❤️

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Our trade unions play a vital role in improving the lives of working people, and in delivering Labour's landmark Employment Rights Act.

This #HeartUnions week, @warinderjussmp.bsky.social celebrates the work our unions do ❤️

I’m looking forward to have a proper conversation with Minister Dan Tomlinson about this to see if we can get some much-needed additional help for our indoor play businesses who offer so much to children, parents, grandparents, carers and young people looking for their first job 💬🤞🏻

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The Treasury announced a 𝟏𝟓% 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 for pubs in 2026/27, followed by a 𝐭𝐰𝐨-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞 🧊 Given indoor play faces challenges and would be a 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬, I asked the Minister if he would meet with me, local venues and the 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲, which he agreed to 👍🏻

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👱🏻‍♂️ 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 and the minimum wage,
📈 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 on food, drink, fixtures and fittings,
🧾 large 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 due to the expiration of COVID relief,
🍼 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞, while great news for families, means fewer are going to soft play on weekdays.

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𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 face particular pressures, even compared to other bricks-and-mortar businesses, and when visiting and using 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐮𝐭, 𝐊𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐟𝐞́ and the 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐟𝐞́ in Cannock Chase, I have heard these concerns first hand about challenges including 👇🏻

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These reforms are long overdue and long ignored by the Tories and Lib Dems in government. They will actually tackle the poor performance and environmental vandalism we’ve seen for far too long. Meanwhile the Greens and Reform can’t tell us how much they’d pay to nationalise or how they’d afford it 🤷🏼‍♂️

We’re building on this with a new Water Bill that will bring in a new, unified ombudsman, mandatory health checks on critical infrastructure (shifting from crisis to prevention) and long-term planning not five year cycles plus tougher regulations on pollution and investment in wastewater treatment

The Government is not standing idly by, as you suggest. Legislation already passed by us means water companies have to invest profits into infrastructure not interest, dividends or exec pay 🚰 Ofwat now has the power to ban bonuses and criminal charges can be brought against execs 👩🏼‍⚖️

Nationalising the water sector: how we assessed the cost

Because debt doesn’t automatically come off an asset’s sale price. In reality, the Government would be obliged to take on the outstanding debts; private companies aren’t going to pay off or underwrite that debt and then have nothing to show for it 💰 We would just end up in court. More info 👇🏻

Couldn’t agree more 👍🏻 Bringing the railways back into public hands makes us masters of our own destiny again though, and profits will go back into services rather than going to shareholders or subsidising state-run railways abroad 💷📈 Now we can hold the railways we own to account 💬📝

With President Trump’s commitment to the fundamentals of NATO shaky at best, we need to strengthen and deepen defence partnerships with reliable allies including the EU 🇬🇧🇪🇺

No to being part of any EU army ❌ But yes to closer co-operation ✅ I hope the EU will be pragmatic re entry costs for Safe 💶

If we can find £100 billion to pay off the shareholders who got us into the mess we’re in with water (and if there’s nothing better to spend £100 billion on), then sure 👍🏻 Until then, we’re taking action to force the architects of this abject failure to clean up the mess they created 💧🚰🧼✅

🎟️ Laying the groundwork for a single ticketing system, ending the confusing patchwork of rules
📊 Bringing in flexible fare increases to replace blanket national increases
♿️ Placing a duty on GBR to improve accessibility

Lots done, one big milestone hit, and lots more to come! 👍🏻

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➕ for the first time in 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 have been 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧 🧊🙌🏻

This is far from the end of the track; the Government’s 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 will build on this by 👇🏻
🇬🇧 Creating Great British Railways to manage track and trains
🔍 Strengthening the powers of the passengers’ watchdog

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Great news 🚨 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲 and 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲 are now 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑! 🚈🤲🏻🎉 We will now start to see 👇🏻
🕒 Fewer delays and cancellations
📱 A simpler, easy-to-understand ticketing system
👨🏻‍💼 Improved customer service
💷 Profits ploughed back into the railway

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QUENTIN LETTS: Scary Bridget is good at class war-mongering You can understand that the Kremlin might, at initial glance, mistake Ms Phillipson for a tough. 'Scary Bridget' does look and sound terrifying. Her upper lip curls like a piglet's tail.

I've taken on vested interests.

I was accused of 'class war-mongering' by opening free breakfast clubs, so children get fed.

Now, I’ve announced an expansion to half a million more children. If you want more 'class war-mongering' of this sort, back me.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

A graphic featuring five Bluesky butterfly logos filled with an image of an autumnal scene in the Cannock Chase forest.

𝐇𝐢 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐤𝐲! 👋🏻 The app-that-must-not-be-named has become a little too toxic lately, even for me 🧌 So, I've decided to move my musings on my job as an MP, the world of politics, and life in general over to here 🙂🦋 Watch this space for updates from Westminster and Cannock Chase 🏛️🌳