Simon Tagg - Newcastle under Lyme

12/06/2026

🏡 Make a difference in Keele as a Parish Councillor

Keele Parish Council currently has vacancies and is looking for local residents who want to help shape the future of the villiage.

I attended this week’s Keele Parish Council meeting in my role as County Councillor for Keele and was pleased to catch up with Parish Councillors Jeremy Lefroy and Wenslie Naylon.

For more information on becoming a Keele parish councillor, visit:
👉 https://keeleparish.org/

Please share with anyone who may be interested! 📢

06/06/2026

🏡 May Bank Councillors Surgery 🏡

I joined May Bank Ward Councillors Cllr Finn Swain, Cllr David Hutchison, Cllr John Tagg at their monthly surgery at The Victoria this morning, where we spoke with residents about a range of local issues.

🔹 Highway concerns🔹 Property-related matters🔹 Local environmental issues

These topped the agenda, and it was great to hear directly from residents about the matters that are important to them.

Afterwards, I popped along to Sandy Lane Green Space, which is now protected as a Village Green, to see how the wildflowers 🌼 and cherry trees 🌸 are faring. Despite the recent damp weather, it was a mild and pleasant morning, and encouraging to see this valued community space continuing to develop and thrive. 👍

04/06/2026

This little railway in The Brampton has alway captivated me since my father took me for a ride on a model train when I was a kid. 🚂

🚞 Happy 90th Anniversary 🚞

30/05/2026

🏡☀️ After a busy Thistleberry Street Surgery this morning, we dropped into Lisbon Place to meet residents and discuss the Staffordshire Community Fund, which is now open for applications!

💷 As a County Councillor I have £2,500 available to support small community projects across the Westlands, Thistleberry & Keele Division. Whether it's improving a local facility, supporting a community group, or helping bring civic pride ideas to life, I'd love to hear from you.

📋 Find out more about the criteria and how to apply here:

https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/councillors-and-committees/staffordshire-community-fund

📸 Cllr’s Sue Beeston, Joan Whieldon and I with residents of Lisbon Place

27/05/2026

🗣️ Meet Your Local Councillors 🏡

I’ll be joining Thistleberry Ward Councillors Sue Beeston and Joan Whieldon this Saturday for our first street surgery since the election.

Local residents please come along for a chat, raise any local issues, share your ideas or concerns, and find out more about what we’re doing for the community. 👍

We’re here to listen and help if we can. So please do stop by if there’s anything you’d like to discuss. 🙂

26/05/2026

Bumph and bluster- that’s what this latest ReformUK announcement amounts to.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council Sustainable Environment Strategy was never about virtue signalling or empty slogans. It has always been about practical action to protect and improve our borough 🌳

✅ Protecting parks and green spaces
✅ Improving air quality
✅ Cutting waste
✅ Saving taxpayers money through energy efficiency

We saw the exact same grandstanding when ReformUK took control of Staffordshire County Council last May. They made a huge fuss about scrapping phrases like “net zero” and “climate emergency”. Yet most of the practical environmental work carried on anyway because sensible measures that save energy and improve our local environment make sense.

Residents care far more about cleaner streets, decent parks and green spaces, lower bills and protecting the borough than political stunts and headline chasing.

This looks far more about ideology and publicity than any meaningful change in policy.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s newly elected administration will put forward a motion at the next Full Council in July, formally cancelling the original declaration of a 'Climate Emergency', which was passed in 2019.

24/05/2026

Lovely weather ☀️ again for day 2 of the Lymelight Festival in Newcastle town centre. Great music stages outside the Guildhall and in the Ironmarket, plus lots of fantastic artisan stalls to enjoy. A brilliant atmosphere in the town centre today. Well worth a visit! 🎶🛍️

22/05/2026

I welcome the letter from Jonathan Gullis restating the long-standing position held by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council opposing the Government’s forced Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). Something that was not in the Labour manifesto and nobody voted for - which could see Newcastle Borough merged with Stoke-on-Trent.

I also welcome Cllr Gullis’ apparent change in stance since 2025. 🤔

I hope he also intends to put pressure on the local Labour MPs, who have previously voted for the legislation enabling LGR and who, according to civil servants, will have a significant say in the outcome and whether any mergers go ahead.

✅ Save our Borough: www.saveourborough.uk

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1JigebRhZr/?mibextid=wwXIfr

20/05/2026

It was an honour to take my seat at Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council along with my Conservative colleagues this evening at the Annual Council meeting.
I will lead a 15-strong official opposition group in the Borough.
Best of luck to Jonathan Gullis and the new Borough Mayor Christopher Bailey as they embark on a new administration at the Council.

08/05/2026

Thank you to residents in Westlands Ward for once again placing their trust in me at the Borough Council elections. I’m delighted to have been re-elected alongside a full slate of Conservative councillors across Westlands & Thistleberry 🗳️🔵

I was proud to receive 1,480 votes and to increase my vote by over 100 compared to the last election in 2022.

Thank you once again for your support. 🙏