John Grogan - the best choice for Keighley and Ilkley

It’s time for ordinary people
Nobody left behind
Nobody held back

  Follow Me On Facebook          Follow Me On Instagram  

From 1997 to 2010 I was the MP for Selby and from 2017-2019 for Keighley. I should like to use that experience to help deliver our progressive manifesto. It is worth remembering that a number of important pledges have been made over the last two years including commitments to:

• An Annual green investment fund so we can have net zero clean electricity by 2030.
• Funding the next decade retrofitting homes with insulation, double glazing, upgraded home heating systems, and other renewable and low carbon technologies.
• Employment rights for all workers from Day 1.
• The development of a National Care Service over time with the immediate priority of providing better pay, training and full rights at work for carers, and stronger national standards.
• Ensure that every child has an up-to-date computer at home and access to a breakfast club and 6,500 more teachers funded by ending tax breaks of private schools.
• The creation of a state owned energy company - Great British Energy - and taking the bulk of railways into public ownership.
• Real Devolution to Yorkshire and the Humber transferring  significant power and resources.

My priorities for Keighley and Ilkley will be:

🏥🚑 Airedale Hospital Must Be Rebuilt in the term of the next Parliament or it will close. Any Tory pre-election promises on capital funding have to be taken with a pinch of salt. Only a Labour government will deliver a brand new hospital and reduce waiting lists.

🌊💩 Clean Rivers. That means sewage discharges into the Wharfe, Aire and Worth need to be cut by 90%.

🔥🏭 Stop the Incinerator for good through a ban on new incineration capacity.

🏛️🏬 The Regeneration of Keighley Town Centre is urgently required. Labour’s plans to abolish business rates will help. We need strong local partnerships to get things done.

🛝🧒 Expand and Renew Youth Services and Play Areas across the constituency with more affordable childcare provision for under 5s and the expansion of school breakfast clubs.

👮‍♂️👮‍♀️ Tough on Crime and Tough on the Causes of Crime, combatting antisocial behaviour and dangerous driving with more community policing. Tackle domestic violence with well resourced support services.

⚽🎭 Sport and Culture brings hope and lifts expectations. I helped Keighley Cougars survive and get the Cliffe Castle Park Run going. I am assisting arts organisation Keighley Creative to make sure we get the best out of Bradford City of Culture 2025. I will also work closely with sports clubs to improve opportunities.

🚄🚌 Public Transport Which Works. A high-speed trans-Pennine rail link with a station in Bradford will only be delivered by a Labour Government. The restoration of the Skipton-Colne line would give Keighley services to Manchester. I would also campaign for tougher bus regulation to build back up Keighley and Ilkley’s bus services which have been drastically cut in recent years.

🏫🫁 Education and Health Inequalities. It is simply not right that in Keighley and Ilkley Constituency life chances and prospects of good health depend on the postcode where you were born. Everybody should be able to see a doctor or dentist when they need one and children should be guaranteed a place at the local school. 

🏞️🚜 Rural Life. The distinctiveness and quality of life in the villages of the Worth, Wharfe and Aire Valleys needs to be cherished. It is easy to divide the communities of this diverse constituency of Keighley and Ilkley, but my aim will be to work with all for the common good.

🤝 Work With Local Voluntary Groups such as the many ‘friends of…’ groups across the constituency so we all play our part in conserving the environment and combatting climate change.

🚶‍♀️🚴‍♂️ Encourage Walkers and Cyclists. For example, get the footbridge over the A629 between Steeton and Silsden built with no further delays. Campaign to get the towpath from Silsden to Kildwick upgraded for walkers and cyclists. Support the development of the Wharfedale Greenway.

💚🏠 Adopt a Brownfield First Approach for new housing and protect the greenbelt. Encourage more affordable, diverse, and high quality housing.

🌍🫠 Climate Change. Labour's pledge of green capital investment (quadrupling current levels) will reduce emissions, bring jobs and cut energy prices. I will work closely with groups such as the Addingham Environment Group and Climate Action Groups including those in Ilkley East Morton, Ilkley, Riddlesden and Silsden.