So what do we get in return for MP’s loyalty?
PERHAPS the least surprising news of the week was that Rossendale MP Jake Berry was backing Prime Minister Boris Johnson in this week’s vote of confidence.
Once one of the most ardent campaigners to get Mr Johnson the gig, not even the PM’s ability to break the laws he created himself was enough to get Mr Berry to think twice.
Does it matter?
Well, yes, quite a lot actually.
Because we should ask what Rossendale gets in return for Mr Berry’s loyalty.
Bear in mind, within minutes of Mr Johnson apologising to Parliament for Partygate, Mr Berry was on his feet telling MPs that the people of Rossendale had accepted Mr Johnson’s apology.
A quick look at Mr Berry’s Facebook page would suggest that isn’t a view universally held!
This matters because it’s high time we began to be told what we, as the people of Rossendale, get in return for Mr Berry’s support for the PM - and indeed his very loyal support of whichever Tory prime minister has been in charge in the 12 years Mr Berry has represented us in Parliament.
It’s become quite common to see Tories talk about the current government - the one under Mr Johnson - as though it was the first Tory government in a long time.
We’re now into a 12th year of Conservative-led government, throughout which time Mr Berry has been our man in Westminster.
During those 12 years, we’ve seen funding for local councils slashed, funding for local police cut, health bosses say their funding has been effectively cut when you factor in inflation, and more and more people forced to use food banks just to get through the week.
We’ve had promise after promise about investing more in the North - first under the Northern Powerhouse, and latterly under levelling up.
While recently Mr Berry has pointed to the restoration of Darwen Tower and a new skate park in Darwen as evidence of levelling up, it remains hard to point to anything delivered by Government in Rossendale which has fundamentally changed our economy for the better. Latterly, we’ve been encouraged to celebrate the re-opening of the Waterfoot police station front counter and welcome new police officers on the beat.
But at best, we’re surely only supposed to be clapping for what we lost under the same government a decade ago.
That’s not to say good things haven’t happened.
Of course we should be grateful for the vaccine rollout although presumably less grateful for the killer Covid policy which sent infected patients back into care homes, causing many deaths here in the borough - while Brexit has indeed, been delivered.
You can decide if that’s been a good thing or not.
But with polling showing that most ‘Red Wall’ seats wouldn’t back Mr Johnson at the next election, Mr Berry needs to start showing what such loyalty is getting us in Rossendale.
Those Red Wall seats will become the priority for investment and spending because they will be the ones election strategists will tell ministers they need to fight hardest to keep.
Although in the North, and a Tory seat, we aren’t a red wall seat as we’ve had a Tory MP since 2010.
Once again, this risks Rossendale missing out on funds and support.
I mean, we’ve spent a decade arguing for a railway service on a route where the tracks already exist.
And yet again, all we have is another study to look into it.
Again.
It’s quite possible to feel that Rossendale is being taken for granted in Westminster.
Mr Berry needs to make sure that isn’t the case.