Exmoor farmer and rural campaigner James Wright has launched a national campaign to protect local Post Office services, warning that Labour’s plans could devastate rural communities and small businesses.
Labour’s recently published Future of the Post Office Green Paper proposes removing the statutory minimum of 11,500 branches and reviewing the last-mile access protections that guarantee every community a local Post Office. The paper itself admits that nearly half of branches are not profitable for postmasters from Post Office business alone, and instead of strengthening support, Labour’s plan to remove safeguards risks opening the door to widespread closures.
Mr Wright said, “Post Offices are vital. It isn’t just about parcels and letters; they are part of our social fabric. Labour’s plan to scrap the branch minimum would hit the elderly, small businesses, and rural families the hardest. In places like Devon, Exmoor and the West Somerset, the Post Office is often the last shop in the village. If these doors shut, they don’t reopen.”
The campaign, which will see motions tabled in councils across the country, calls for binding safeguards to defend small and remote branches, and urges planning authorities to link Post Office investment to wider regeneration of high streets and village centres. It also argues that while new services such as parcel lockers should be embraced, they must complement rather than replace staffed counters, and that expanding banking hubs in rural towns which have lost their banks would be one of the most effective ways to secure the long-term viability of local branches.
Mr Wright added, “Labour talks about modernising services, but in rural areas ‘modernisation’ too often means closure. My campaign is clear, rural communities must not be left behind. We need to strengthen the Post Office network, not dismantle it.”
The consultation on Labour’s proposals closes on 6 October 2025, and James Wright is urging residents, and businesses to make their voices heard by signing the open letter on his website www.whatlaboursaid.com/save-your-post-office.
