Let's restore a prosperous Southport
Southport was once one of the great seaside towns of Britain. People came from all over the country to walk Lord Street, stroll the pier and take the sea air. It was a town that ran its own affairs and took real pride in itself.
Anyone can see we have slipped from that. The pier has been closed for years. Lord Street has too many empty shops. The roads are full of potholes, and too little of the money raised here seems to come back to our streets. Sefton Council has held a Labour majority since 2012, and Southport has been going backwards on their watch.
None of this is a quick fix. Some of it will take years. But it needs doing, and that is what Restore Southport is for.
The Southport Branch of Restore Britain
A town built on better days
Southport grew up in the Victorian age as a refined seaside resort. Lord Street, laid out in the 1820s, became one of the first grand boulevards in the world. The story goes that Napoleon III was so taken with it that he had the tree-lined avenues of Paris rebuilt in its image.
The railway arrived in 1848 and brought the merchant families of Liverpool. The pier opened in 1860, the Botanic Gardens in 1874, and the Flower Show has run since 1924. For more than a century, Southport was a wealthy, well-run town that people were proud to call home.
“Lord Street, stretching from the Hesketh Park to Birkdale, is among the streets of the world.”
“Lord Street — the miniature or wee prototype of the Champs Elysees.”
County borough to Sefton
Southport became a county borough in 1905 and ran its own schools and services from the Town Hall for nearly seventy years.
In 1974 it was folded into Sefton within Merseyside. That was a big administrative change, but the town carried on as a seaside resort. What has hurt Southport since then is not the boundary on a map but years of poor upkeep: empty shops, a closed pier, beaches left to grow over, and money raised here spent elsewhere.
Southport deserves better from those who run it.
Southport needs visitors
Southport was built for visitors and still depends on them. Without people coming to the beach, the gardens, the Marine Lake, Adventure Coast and the high street, the shops close and the jobs go. Getting visitors back is good for residents too.
See our prioritiesOur Priorities for Southport
Six priorities for our town. Practical things that would make Southport a better place to live, work and visit.
Our Constituency
Southport spans 9 wards across Sefton and West Lancashire. We are mapping every street and every walkable route, so branch organisers know exactly where to leaflet and canvass.