JILL MORTIMER: Highlighting what upgrading town’s hospital would offer

We had two high-profile visits to Hartlepool.

The first was the Chairman of the Conservative Party, Greg Hands, who I was delighted to welcome. I took him to Hartlepool Hospital, and made the argument for Government investment to bring back more services.

It is vitally important that all members of Government see what we want to do in HartlepooI and I wanted to use the opportunity to underline what an opportunity upgrading the Hospital represents for not only our town but the wider area.

It was also great to host Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, during her visit to our town. I was very pleased to be able to welcome her with a lunch at Place in the Park followed by some good conversations on doorsteps - including a chat with two retired hospital consultants who also made the case for returning services to our hospital, so fingers crossed she’ll mention it at home!

It was fantastic to finally have a chance to visit the Royal Naval Museum and good to see so many local families taking the opportunity to see our proud naval history so well displayed there.

I took my boys when the were young nearly twenty years ago now and it was great to see the new exhibitions like the horrible histories pirates section which they would have loved! The replicas showing life on

board ship are still very impressive, and bring to life a very important era of British history.

It was also a pleasure to revisit our copper-bottomed Trincomalee, I am so proud to be part of a community that actively invests in its history, and it is a privilege for Hartlepool to host this national museum dedicated to such an important British institution.

A number of you have contacted me about allotments over the past couple of weeks to raise concerns about the price increases.

I know how important it is to residents to have outside space and it is important that renting an allotment remains accessible and affordable. I was therefore pleased to meet with allotment owners last week to hear their views first hand – moving forward I

am happy to liaise with the council to ensure your voices are heard.