Markus Campbell-Savours says his historic election victory, as the first MP for the new Penrith and Solway constituency, is an honour that he intends to repay voters with by working hard to support projects that rebuild local services, and help build a brighter future for the county.
A proud Cumbrian, born in Whitehaven, and long-term resident of Keswick, Markus has put housing, education and health as some of the core issues that he intends to work on locally, and says he is keen to get going.
“Key issues that came up on the doorstep on the election, across the whole of the constituency, were the state of the health service both nationally and locally, access to NHS dentists; and the immigration system, which it was universally said that the Conservatives had lost of control of.”
The crisis in dentistry, in particular, is one of many issues he feels strongly about, having seen the impact of this locally.
“People want to see me get stuck in as soon as possible. This includes issues such as NHS dentistry. We have seen a number of local closures over the last few months.
“We need to see the contract for dentistry fixed. It was promised in multiple manifestos over the last decade. There has not been the opportunity to rectify it since 2010 when the Conservatives took over, but now we have that opportunity.
“We will need to train more dentists. We need to also ensure we can attract people to work here. The Labour Party are looking at providing incentives to come and work in areas we are calling ‘dental deserts’, of which Cumbria is one. We have also got to retain NHS dentists, and as the residents of Maryport, Cockermouth, Keswick and other Cumbrian towns can attest to, we have lost those NHS dentists when they have gone private and part of that is the inability to make the existing contract work.”
Markus, who has made history as the first Labour MP to represent the town of Penrith, says another priority is reform of the housing system.
“Another issue that is dear to my heart is housing, and affordable housing, in particular. We have seen a lot of housing developments in Cumbria over the last few years but not necessarily housing that meets the needs of people that I meet, who are really struggling.
“I will be pushing to see the creation of more affordable and social homes but also to work with the small community led housing schemes that have been doing such a great job in towns like Keswick. I would like to see those types of schemes expanded across Cumbria.
“I would also like to continue my work that I have been doing for the last few years around tackling the over-supply of holiday lets, which has seen thousands of properties taken out of towns and put into the tourism market.
“It has become difficult for some people to justify building on the green fields in areas in the National Park whilst we continue to lose properties that currently don’t have to go through any change of use process, moving properties from residential into commercial use. I couldn’t in full conscience, campaign for more houses to be built without tackling the issue of holiday lets.”
Before getting stuck in, as a newcomer to Parliament, Markus says his first few days in the job have been busy focusing on getting to grips with the workings of Westminster, with an induction process for new MPs to contend with and his swearing in which he says has led to many messages of goodwill.
“I am in Westminster, and I am looking to best utilise that to affect the changes that the voters of Penrith and Solway voted for. I have got a lot to learn. It has been a good week, and an exciting week and hopefully I will be up and running and fighting our corner as soon as possible.”
Markus says he has been lucky that his father – Dale Campbell-Savours – was not just a former Member of Parliament, but also an accomplished parliamentarian sitting in the House of Lords, “with a vast and well respected knowledge of parliamentary procedure,” and he is no doubt that moving forward he will be asking him questions about how to navigate the often “quite antiquated” rules and procedures in the House of Commons, recognising there is an art to getting things done in London.
Growing up in the county and “very much a Keswick lad,” Markus, also follows his father’s passion for education, understanding the generational issues facing young people in this area, who are often forced to move away for work or education, as well as the challenges they face getting on the housing ladder.
Markus himself moved south for work opportunities, only to return to Cumbria to bring up his own family. After returning to Keswick, in 2019 he was elected to Allerdale Borough Council then in 2022 to the Cumberland Council.
“I think the vision for Cumbria is a county where young people don’t feel that they have to do that. A vision where there is a much wider set of job opportunities, with a far more diverse economy, and one where there are many more education opportunities.
“That is the sort of stuff we need to be pushing for more of in Cumbria, a vision of the county, where young people don’t feel they have to leave, because opportunities are here and not just in other parts of the country. I think that vision is a sound one.”
