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3 weeks ago | 
lancashire.thelead.uk | Luke Beardsworth |Jamie Lopez
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead. DOGE is on the way to Lancashire - what a [truly harrowing] time to be alive. Anyone who expected Reform leader Stephen Atkinson to bristle at outside help given he’d already started his own spending review at County Hall is sorely mistaken. He welcomes the pro-bono help from outside parties to help identify council wastage.
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3 weeks ago | 
lancashire.thelead.uk | Luke Beardsworth |Jamie Lopez
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead. We have been focused on happenings at County Hall for much of May - we hope understandably given the scale of change there due to Reform UK’s landslide victory - but today’s edition has a very North Lancashire focus. We stop first at the transformational Eden Project Morecambe for an update on what’s happening there before pitching over to HMP Lancaster Farms for the latest on an investigation that saw the arrest of a prison officer.
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1 month ago | 
lancashire.thelead.uk | Luke Beardsworth |Jamie Lopez
Hello and welcome to the mid-week edition of The Lancashire Lead,It’s easy to think because a government announcement happened a few weeks back then the impact of it is all done and dusted - but when it comes to the proposed shake-up to disability benefits and the wider Universal Credit changes that couldn’t be further from the truth.
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1 month ago | 
lancashire.thelead.uk | Luke Beardsworth |Jamie Lopez
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead. As widely expected and predicted, Cllr Stephen Atkinson - who earlier this year defected to Reform UK from the Conservatives - is the new Reform UK leader locally and will therefore become the leader of Lancashire County Council.
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1 month ago | 
blackpool.thelead.uk | Luke Beardsworth |Jamie Lopez
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead. Today’s reporting focuses on the Jameson Road landfill as a deadline approaches to compel politicians to debate the topic in the House of Commons. If you haven’t supported that yet but you want to, you can sign it here. The issue has gone in circles for some time now, where residents raise concerns, everyone responds, and the status quo resumes. The operators say things are improving - but residents don’t necessarily agree.
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Mar 26, 2025 | 
blackpool.thelead.uk | Jamie Lopez |Shelagh Parkinson |Luke Beardsworth
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead. In today’s edition, we look at the accounts of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, which were made public over the weekend. It’s a key employer for Blackpool - and obviously iconic besides - and this is underlined by them taking on more members of staff in the last financial year despite losses.
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Mar 23, 2025 | 
southport.thelead.uk | Andrew Brown |Jamie Lopez
Hello and welcome to the 21st edition of The Southport Lead. Today’s main story takes a look at a proposed tax which could affect some businesses setting up - or extending their premises - in Southport. The proposal is similar in philosophy to the tourism tax seen in many European cities which creates a dedicated fund for the services most affected by visitors.
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Mar 12, 2025 | 
lancashire.thelead.uk | Luke Beardsworth |Jamie Lopez
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead. It’s long-established that Lancashire punches well above its weight when it comes to restaurant accolades. Newly-minted three-Michelin-star restaurant Moor Hall is just one of three restaurants with at least one star in Aughton alone. But Lancashire’s restaurant legacy, in so many ways, can be traced back to Northcote and, especially in recent times, the work done by executive chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen.
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Mar 12, 2025 | 
southport.thelead.uk | Elliot Jessett |Jamie Lopez
Hello and welcome to the 18th edition of The Southport Lead. Today’s main story looks at the finances of Sefton Hospitality Operations Ltd, the company wholly owned by Sefton Council but run as a private business. The business was responsible for running The White House, next to the municipal golf course, but was unable to make a success of the venue. It has had better fortunes running the Lake House in Waterloo but is still running at heavy losses.
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Mar 5, 2025 | 
southport.thelead.uk | Elliot Jessett |Jamie Lopez
Hello and welcome to the 16th edition of The Southport Lead. Today, we’re looking at the future of emergency care provision in the town and what could happen next. Since 2003, adults and children have had to visit separate locations for A&E and calls for change have been ongoing throughout that entire period. A major review of urgent care could see that changed with the desire for a single location once again made clear, but how it would happen is anything but clear.
