We need to speak collectively': can parliament solve the problem of deprivation bingo' in the UK's seaside towns?

"By reforming the coastal PLP, Billington is trying to push Westminster to focus on the party's sea wall, and by doing so generate resources towards some of the more pressing issues shared by coastal places. Quite often we find ourselves having a kind of deprivation bingo, she says, referring to the conversations she has with other coastal MPs about problems such as unreliable public transport, poor job opportunities and geographical isolation."

"But these are things that we have in common between us. I have more in common with MPs who represent coastal seats like Lowestoft, Scarborough, Blackpool, Hastings and Weymouth than I do with those who are in some other parts of the south-east, even in Kent. We need to speak collectively in one voice or we risk being overlooked and ignored."

A sunny autumn day in Ramsgate finds the seaside town busy and a community art project along the pier fence depicts 65 little ships that sailed to mark the 85th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation. Polly Billington, MP for East Thanet and chair of a newly reformed coastal parliamentary Labour party, is leading efforts to push Westminster to prioritise coastal needs such as sea walls. Coastal towns share common problems — unreliable public transport, poor job opportunities and geographical isolation — and require a collective political voice to avoid being overlooked and to attract resources for pressing local issues.

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