Stoke post box FINALLY reinstalled after Labour campaign

14th March, 2023

Luke stands with councillors Jemima Laing, Tom Briars-Delve and Sally Cresswell alongside the reinstalled post box in Stoke.

Royal Mail has finally reinstalled a post box in Stoke Village, following a two-year campaign by myself and local Labour councillors that went all the way to Parliament.

Along with Stoke councillors Jemima Laing, Tom Briars-Delve and Sally Cresswell and myself we have convinced Royal Mail to u-turn on its original decision not to replace the post box after the original was removed in 2021.

Hundreds of Stoke residents signed Plymouth Labour’s petition calling for the post box’s return, which I presented to Parliament in July 2021. Even the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, added his support to the petition.

Stoke’s Labour councillors took the post box campaign to the City Council’s Conservative-dominated Planning Committee, fighting a retrospective planning application that could have jeopardised the post box’s return and greenlighted “future acts of vandalism” according to Councillor Sally Cresswell.

The original post box was removed without planning permission by a kebab shop owner in 2021.

Through teamwork and persistence, Stoke finally has its post box back. This is a big win for residents and local businesses, including the hundreds of people who signed my petition. They should never have had their post box removed in the first place.

I’m grateful to Royal Mail for listening to the campaign that I ran with Stoke’s three Labour councillors. It was a team effort and I’m glad we got it over the line for our community. I’ll keep fighting for Plymouth’s community infrastructure, big and small.

Jemima Laing, Labour councillor for Stoke ward, has said “It really is thrilling to see a post box back in its rightful place in the centre of Stoke Village. It’s been very gratifying to see our MP, the councillors and the local community working together to get this vital bit of infrastructure reinstated in this busy retail centre in the middle of Stoke ward.”

You can find out more on the campaign here: