Labour MPs call on water firms to save Britain’s lost lidos

Cooling, blue expanses of water have been a lifesaver for many lucky enough to live near a lido during the recent UK heatwave.

Now, a group of 20 MPs, along with the Fabian Society, are calling for this relief to be made accessible for all by getting water companies to fund the reopening of the country’s lost lidos.

A new report from the thinktank has called on Andy Burnham, who is expected to become the next prime minister, to use the forthcoming water bill to make water companies responsible for funding places for local people to swim, such as lidos.

Lidos, or public outdoor pools, were built across the UK in the 1930s. The beautiful, often art deco, constructions were cheap to visit and were envisioned as a way for everyone to keep healthy during the summer. But by the end of the 1980s, nearly two-thirds were derelict or demolished. Where Britain had more than 300 lidos in the 1930s, only about a third were still open in 1990.

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Some are still closing down today, and many communities have fought to keep their lidos open. For example, the biggest freshwater outdoor pool in the country, Tooting Bec lido, was saved from closure in the 1990s by the South London swimming club, which took over the less profitable winter management of the pool.

The former Conservative cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt campaigned for years to get the Hillsea lido in her Portsmouth constituency renovated and opened to the public, and memorably appeared on television in a swimming costume for the competition show Splash in order to raise funds for it. The lido opened to the public this year.

Andrew Pakes, the Labour MP for Peterborough, successfully campaigned to keep the city’s lido open, after the council’s budget plans suggested it could be mothballed.

He has started a campaign group of Labour MPs with derelict or at-risk lidos in their constituencies. He said: “Andy Burnham talks a lot about pride in place and this could therefore be a small but important part of his policy agenda.”

Pakes has become a regular swimmer in the Peterborough lido since becoming the MP in 2024. “My Peterborough lido turned 90 this year and was almost shut down two years ago, it was neglected for years,” he said. “I helped to run a campaign to turn it around and it has flourished since then; 1,500 people used it on bank holiday Monday last week.”

The MPs are backing a new report by the Fabian Society, which sets out ways to save public outdoor pools from extinction. The thinktank states: “They are more than outdoor swimming pools. The idea behind the architecture was that the factory worker, the coalminer, the office clerk, the apprentice, and the housewife had as much right to lounge on a sundeck or enjoy a swim in clean water as the aristocrat on an ocean liner or the stockbroker on a Monte Carlo beach.”

The report says that the bill could contain a duty for water companies to “promote and facilitate public access to safe outdoor swimming” in their regions, and suggests the legislation could be phrased to require companies to cooperate with local authorities to ensure a minimum provision of lidos per population or area. This could encompass building a new lido, refurbishing an old one, or building or creating a swimming lake.

Pakes said: “Many councils have been left struggling to run our wonderful assets like lidos and public pools. This is a rallying call for us to get behind lidos. These pools are a testament for how we did it in the past and show how we can be ambitious to create new lidos and reopen derelict lidos.”

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He said the lido campaign was being backed by MPs including the Cabinet Office minister Anna Turley, who is “interested in opening a lido in Redcar.”

Outdoor swimming in summer is becoming increasingly popular as the climate heats. The nation’s largest public swimming operator, Better, has confirmed the summer of 2025 was the busiest it had ever seen for lidos and outdoor swim spots. Between June and August 2025, 542,998 swim visits were recorded – up from 416,847 over the same period in 2024 – a rise of 30%.

Pakes said: “Outdoor swimming is becoming much more important for everyone, with hotter summers we need people to have the public health and public benefit.”

The MPs campaigning to bring back their lidos

• Worthing MPs Beccy Cooper and Tom Rutland have been working to secure funding to restore and reopen the Grade II-listed seafront lido.

• Stroud Simon Opher is campaigning to fix and reopen the art deco lido, built in 1937, which closed in 2025 after the council announced it could not afford the £5m refurbishment costs for the lining, pump, valves and pipework it had been advised were necessary.

• Bishop Auckland Sam Rushworth backs the reopening of Stanhope lido.

• Peterborough Andrew Pakes has successfully campaigned to save his constituency lido, and has sponsored parliamentary debates to highlight the wider importance of lidos.

• Ipswich Jack Abbott has championed efforts to restore the Broomhill lido. The pool has been closed since 2002, but after two decades of campaigning, a £10m restoration (with national lottery funding) is under way and the lido aims to reopen the lido in 2026.