16/04/2026
𝐋𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐞?
This seems to be the stark question that many York Outer residents are asking about their MP Luke Charters, after letters went out from him (paid for by us the taxpayer) claiming the credit for all sorts of road repairs where it seems unclear what, if any, influence he has had.
In March, as it does every year, City of York Council published its 2026/27 Highways Maintenance programme which detailed the roads it would be spending money on in the new financial year. However what made this year different is that in the days after its publication, many residents started receiving letters from Mr Charters saying how his lobbying was to credit for the improvements, they seemed mainly similar copy and pastes but in just one letter he made the following claims about his work:
'had been working hard behind the scenes'
'doing all I can to push for improvements'
'worked closely with the relevant council officers and stakeholders'.
The letters have gone out from Bishopthorpe to Huntington, from Dunnington to Haxby and Copmanthorpe to name a few. All are united by one simple thing – residents were not aware of any work from Mr Charters until all featured in the Highways Programme and they received his letter taking the credit.
In one example, Copmanthorpe, which is the home and the ward of the Conservative Group Leader Cllr Chris Steward, the money related to the resurfacing of Moor Lane and stems from a legal S106 agreement between the developer (Barratt Developments) of a new housing site and City of York Council. Cllr Steward has for some time spoken with Barratt and C*C about the issues of the housing site and was pleased when, as expected, the highways programme confirmed Moor Lane would be resurfaced. This was not something Cllr Steward sought to take any credit for, it was simply a legal requirement (known as dilapidations) for the damage to the road from lorries etc during the building. He was therefore amazed when residents started receiving the letters from Mr Charters which said the work was due to his lobbying.
People will know politicians often disagree about who is to blame or credit for things but this seems to take it to new depths. Which roads are resurfaced is purely an issue for C*C highways officers who look at their condition and usage. Any suggestion that there has been any successful lobbying is actually legally improper. However what makes the situation even starker is that there seems no evidence to support Mr Charters claims of his work (possibly literally no lobbying – that is certainly what residents are saying). In Copmanthorpe, to which the three quotes above relate, C*C Planners, C*C Highways and Barratt Developments have all been unable to locate ANY correspondence whether emails, letters or phone calls from Mr Charters or ANY meetings relating to the work he claims.
Cllr Chris Steward said ‘Residents have many issues with the incompetence of the Labour Government but these look desperate tactics from Mr Charters to try and distract from the national mess. Many residents are telling me they think he is lying to them about his work, it is crucial he evidences to the hundreds of homes he has written to across the city the lobbying work and relevant conversations that have occurred or the name ‘Lying Luke’ will stick’.
