John Healey: 'I've been a Yorkshire MP for 30 years - this is why I love the region so much'

One of my earliest memories is of the beach at Sandsend where the stream flows across it and into the sea. That’s where we used to go for days out and holidays with my parents and two sisters. We moved about a bit because of my father’s job as a prison officer.

Most of my schooldays were in Rosedale and Thornton Dale and then mum and dad lived for a long time in Norton next to Malton. When we moved from the south to Rosedale, we didn’t just move the furniture. My parents had to hire a special removal van for all the rabbits. We had 26 of them.

What is your favourite part of Yorkshire?

I would say the wilds of the moors on Blakey Ridge above Rosedale. It’s a very special place and I’ve not thought about it for 50 years until now. There’s a power about it, huge skies with changing lights and the moorland heather is different throughout the year.

And your favourite view?

You can’t beat the views on the North York Moors. You have a sense of freedom and openness and, of course, it gets really wild in the winter. There were times in Rosedale when we snowed in, five or six feet of snow, and the school bus couldn’t get through from Pickering.

What’s your favourite walk?

Wickersley Woods is an ancient bit of woodland managed by the parish council. My wife Jackie and I like to go there first thing in the morning. You go to the far side of the woods and the sun’s just coming up. It’s a special walk in a special place.

It’s rather different these days because I have a protection team, so it’s not quite the same when you have two burly lads a couple of paces behind you.

Do you have a favourite pub?

I’ve got a few, like the Three Horseshoes in Wickersley on Bawtry Road, but in my constituency, it would be the Rockingham Arms in Wentworth. The Rock. Indeed, I’d been Defence Secretary for only 10 days when the Australian Defence Minister arrived for a bilateral meeting.

Richard Marles is also Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister. I thought why did I have to meet him in London? Why don’t we meet at Wentworth Woodhouse and then I’ll take him to the Rock? He still talks about it. He was at home in the bar as I was.

What’s your favourite restaurant?

The Golden Ball, a country pub at Whiston, is excellent and Jackie’s favourite is called W, an Italian bar and restaurant on Bawtry Road. It’s great and we often meet our friends there.

Which Yorkshire sports star, past or present, would you like to take out for lunch?

I think Jessica Ennis-Hill is such an inspiration. I still remember the excitement of watching the 2012 London Olympics. Jessica was the stand-out performer in an outstanding Olympics.

She’s humble, modest, but totally world class and inspiring for kids around here. We are also proud in Rotherham to be the home of the first black professional footballer in England, Arthur Wharton, who played for Rotherham in the 1890s.

Which Yorkshire star of screen and stage, would you like to take out for dinner?

When my son Alex was growing up, we went to the cinema much more then, so for me it’s Patrick Stewart. We saw every X-Men movie he was in. What an actor. He’s a West Riding man from Mirfield. Patrick’s been doing it for 60 years, and whether it’s stage, film or tv sit-coms, Patrick’s done the lot, and he’s a good Labour man too.

What do you think it is which gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

Apart from its outstanding beauty and variety, it’s the people. You can’t beat or match them anywhere, and then you see the pride Yorkshire people have in their county wherever they are in the world. There’s a bluntness about folk which is a great strength as it translates into resilience, stubborness and determination, and I also like the fact that you have to earn the respect of a Yorkshire man or woman.

Since you’ve known it, would you say that Yorkshire has changed for the better or the worse?

Both. I became MP for this area in 1997. That seems a long time after the Miners’ Strike, but divisions and memories were still very deep. The Blair government tackled youth unemployment, but what we struggle to do as a county is to transform the economy so that we’ve got really good prospects and good paying jobs.

But we do have world class manufacturing companies and we still make, still innovate and design in West and South Yorkshire.

How has Yorkshire influenced your career?

I was never one of those people who wanted to be an MP anywhere or at any price. I would only want to be a Yorkshire MP and I’ve been fortunate to do that for almost 30 years. I first started as a candidate in my home area of Ryedale which is deeply Conservative in North Yorkshire. I loved that experience. Wherever I’ve worked, Yorkshire has pulled me back, and I have a special pride that I’ve been elected to represent parts of Doncaster and Rotherham.

Who is the Yorkshire person you admire the most?

We’ve just lost her. It’s Dame Julie Kenny who was an extraordinary person. She founded, developed and ran a most successful manufacturing company in Rotherham – Pyronix – making electronic security equipment. She kept the company going through Covid and knew everyone of the employees by name.

She and I worked together to provide money to the trust which bought Wentworth Woodhouse to restore it. Dame Julie was a force of nature and people responded to her warmth.

If a stranger came to Yorkshire and had time to visit one place only, where would you take them?

I’d take them to Ray’s, the butcher on the High Street in Wath upon Dearne and get them a pork pie. They sell Percy Turner’s from Barnsley, the best pork pies around.