A new year message from Dan Tomlinson MP

A man standard outside a post box located within a Post Office wall — Dan Tomlinson outside High Barnet Post Office – (Credit – Office of Dan Tomlinson MP)

As I finally accept my daily mince pie intake must stop, I have been reflecting on the past year.

Some of you may know that our high streets really matter to me. I’m forever prying into the status of empty shops, excited when I see new ones opening or growing, and I’m loving the Christmas artwork so many shops locally have added this year.

As I walked through High Barnet town centre at the Christmas Fayre, I saw, for example, the run-down paintwork above Wenzel’s being refreshed for the first time in many years – after I and the local town team got in touch with the shop about the need for the work. I see the clock working again above Costa, after we asked the owners to fix it. And I’m excited to see some new local businesses opening. These things matter.

I know too that there are now staff working in the new post office, which is more accessible, open for longer (and on Sundays) after I suggested this to the owner, and moments away from the old site. A victory that wasn’t inevitable; but rather that was hard-fought and won by us as local residents coming together to demand the post office not close.

These small things add up to high streets we can take pride in; that befit this wonderful place that we all are lucky to call home.

I’ve started work in Whetstone, and in East Barnet, on efforts to revitalise and reopen empty shops and make sure things work for you locally. I hope you begin to spot these differences in 2026.

One of my favourite things from the past year has been spending time with constituents, whether that be on the street, on the doorstep, in our local businesses, at my tea events, and more. As I’ve listened to you, I realise I’ve been struck by the power of our collective will. The will to make things better; to improve our community; to look after one another.

Every week, I meet an incredible array of local movements and organisations. Groups working on everything from farming to food banks, rivers to retrofits, SEND provision to smartphones. Big and small, formal and informal, this constituency is made up of an astonishing patchwork of community organisations. And I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to them and to thank them for the work that they do.

As your local Member of Parliament, I’m privileged to have a unique view of the incredible community groups that exist across this constituency – as well as of the gaps and opportunities that exist.

What’s more, every week I meet hundreds of people from across the area (and from across the political spectrum) who want to get stuck in and act on the problems in their local area, but don’t know where to start.

I want to join up the dots. So, I am pleased to announce the upcoming launch of CB:CAN – the Chipping Barnet Community Action Network.

This is a non-political network focused on grassroots action to improve and strengthen our local area and relationships with one another – from litter picking to community festivals, and everything in between.

There will be much more information to come on this – but I would like to draw your attention to this form, where you can sign up to hear more: https://forms.fillout.com/t/7ymHvtQryuus.

We’ll be running a series of ‘Launch Forums’ up and down the constituency in January and February – sign up to be the first to hear about them! We’ll then run our first big action day in the spring, likely focused on clearing up green spaces, parks and waterways. Stay tuned for more information, and for your chance to shape this network as it develops.

With thanks to you all for what we achieved together in 2025, and wishing you a very happy new year as we look forward to 2026 with hope.

Dan Tomlinson is Labour MP for Chipping Barnet

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