Introducing the New Chair of Lancashire Police Federation Martin Midgley

4 June 2025

Martin Midgley has been elected as the new Chair of Lancashire Police Federation.

He is currently an inspector leading a busy response investigation team, and says as Federation Chair he wants to be a visible presence throughout the whole force area.

Martin said: “I stood for the Chair’s role because I think I’ve got the right skills to look to take things forward. We need to be more proactive about telling members all the good things the Federation does.

“One of my key pledges I put in my campaign was that I want to be a really visible Chair, I want to be out, everyone should know my name and my face, and I think the key thing for me is that we need that frontend engagement through myself at as many events and briefings as I can get to.

“I’m a passionate leader around welfare and support and that’s part of the reason I went into the Federation to start with, so I can do more around supporting colleagues, especially through the welfare side of things.

“The key thing for me is engaging with the membership, and I’m going to come up with a strategy about how I’m going to do that, using myself and also the 27 other reps. We’ve got one full-time rep in each division and I think they’ve got a key role to play.”

Martin is passionate about telling officers in Lancashire about all the positive ways the Federation can help them – so they know it’s not just a place to reach out to for misconduct issues.

He said: “The key thing is, if you are investigated or you need support, you’ll go to the Federation and they will 100% support you. The level of service we offer on that one-to-one level is top quality. However, the wider membership are not always aware of what support we can offer.

“I don’t think welfare is as well covered because I think a lot of people ask for Federation support later down the line because they either thought they could deal with it themselves or have assumed they don’t need Federation support earlier on.

“It’s my job to make sure we as a Federation engage with members so they understand what support there is and how the federation can help.

“In Lancashire as well the Ben Fund is a great organisation to have just on our doorstep. For those paying in, there is physio and counselling support, as well as discounted holidays, financial support and crisis loans. The PTC is also a really good organisation for the support of officers not only for physical injuries, but to support officers deal with the amount of trauma they see and pressure they are under.”

And Martin said it is important for officers in Lancashire to be aware of the work being undertaken by the Police Federation of England and Wales, particularly its pay campaign – Copped Enough.

He explained: “Nationally, we need to keep pushing forward so our members understand what’s going on and understand how the Federation has actually changed nationally.

“And also to keep them informed of what’s going on nationally, especially around pay and conditions, which is such a big issues for all of us.

“The national pay campaign Copped Enough is so important – for example the PFEW is running a virtual picket line to protest about police pay and conditions. This needs every officer to join the picket line and stand side by side as one collective voice. Officers need to get their family and friends to join the picket line as well.