Selby Times - August 2025

With British summer in full swing, last month didn’t just see fantastic sporting achievements on a local level – the Lionesses united the country in bringing football home (again!) in a historic win at the Euros. As Chloe Kelly expressed so perfectly in her post-match interview, moments like this make us proud to be English, not least when watching local Yorkshire heroes like Beth Mead, Jessica Park and Esme Morgan represent our county on the national stage.

It’s an incredible time not just for English football, but for women’s teams across the nation; the Lionesses’ victory serves as another inspiration for grassroots clubs with young aspiring footballers. Locally, the Brayton Belles are a fantastic example of this, with their U10s, U11s and U13s teams recently raising thousands through fundraising walks to boost the club, which I’ve no doubt will forge future Lionesses!

There are so many reasons to be proud of not just England but Yorkshire too, and there’s no better time to celebrate this than on the 1^st of August - Yorkshire Day. Originally hailing from the regimental anniversary of the Battle of Minden, the day is also the anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire, for which a Yorkshire MP, William Wilberforce, campaigned.

Yorkshire Day at the beginning of this month saw a county-wide celebration filled with flat caps, Yorkshire pudding‑tossing contests and even dancing sheep appearances. Cliches though they may be, these are some of the countless features which shape our county’s unique identity – including our friendliness, pride in our region, and our love of a proper brew. We’re the county of Judi Dench, the Bronte sisters, David Hockney and the first British-born woman to take a seat in Parliament, Margaret Wintringham.

Turning to Selby, I thought I’d use this column to pay tribute to some of the distinctive heritage that has shaped our home in the heart of Yorkshire.

Selby has a rich industrial history and I’m proud that our shipbuilding heritage was honoured last month with a special ceremony at Selby Abbey, where we received a plaque from the MV Hebridean Isles ship. Retired earlier this year, the vessel was built by Selebians at Cochrane’s shipyard and launched into the Ouse in July 1985. Almost 40 years later, I was delighted to meet with representatives from the Scottish ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne to witness the hand-over of the plaque, which is now on display in the Abbey. It was a privilege to be a part of restoring a piece of Selby’s history to its rightful place in our town.

Selby is also home to one of the first significant railway facilities to be built in the North-East. Extending between Leeds and Selby, Yorkshire’s earliest main line opened in 1834 and ushered in our town’s prominent role as a crucial railway hub, with the famous Flying Scotsman a frequent visitor.

In Parliament, the government are bringing our railways back into public control. A year on from introducing the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill, we saw the first services renationalised in May, with further legislation this year due to overhaul the industry and integrate track and train operations as the state-owned Great British Railways (GBR).

The coal mines are another cornerstone of Selby’s industrial heritage, with our town hosting the largest deep coal mining project undertaken anywhere in the world at the time of its establishment: the Selby ‘super-pit’. 460 miles of underground roadways connected the five colliery sites of Wistow, Stillingfleet, Riccall, North Selby and Whitemoor, which fed the central Gascoigne Wood drift mine. In its short span of 21 years, the Selby Coalfield was a pioneering project that broke many national and international records, with productivity five times the national average at its height. I’m proud that our town played a principal role in powering Britain, and excited by the ongoing development at Gascoigne Wood which will drive jobs and investment in our area.

With this context I’ve mind, I’ve continued to advocate for retired mineworkers across our constituency. After years of waiting, the Government last month announced a national public inquiry into the clashes between police and striking miners at the Orgreave Coking Plant in 1984. For decades, campaigners and trade unionists have been calling for this inquiry, and I know that lots of local people were present when violence erupted on that fateful day. The full statutory inquiry reaffirms the government’s commitment to work in the interests of former mining towns and villages like ours; I hope this will provide the answers that our coalfield communities deserve.

So, as we celebrate all that makes God’s Own County great on Yorkshire Day, I feel prouder than ever to represent Selby. Whether it’s our proud industrial past or our bright and prosperous future, our stunning landmarks or our unwavering strength of community spirit – we’re proud to be from Yorkshire and proud to be from Selby.

I see this in each constituency visit, not least at last month’s North Duffield family fun day and Staynor Hall litter pick. I’m constantly bowled over by the hard work and compassion of the local volunteers who give up their free time to support our community, and I’d like to thank everyone who plays their part in keeping the heart of Yorkshire beating as the friendly, caring, community-minded centre of our county.

As ever, if you ever require my support, please don’t hesitate to contact me on keir.mather.mp@parliament.uk. I look forward to providing a further update next month