Blackpool is the heart of the Fylde Coast and one of the most densely developed boroughs in Britain, with around 140,000 residents. Blackpool’s past and present are inextricably linked with the tourist industry.

The pace of change in Blackpool has been rapid in recent years. The private sector has been given confidence to invest in the town. There have been improvements in the town’s infrastructure: the defences, the tramways, trams and buses, the promenade, the Tower and the Winter Gardens.

Blackpool was one of the first seven UK towns to obtain a ‘Town Deal’ with the Government and received £39.5m, the highest amount received by any town in the country.

We have arrested the decline of the town’s economy while putting in place the building blocks for a brighter future. We have also sought to broaden the local economy beyond tourism, to push up average wages and reduce dependence on seasonal employment, with the co-creation of two Enterprise Zones in the wider Fylde Coast.

Blackpool has declared a Climate Emergency with a goal of achieving “net zero” by 2030.