Last week was dominated by local and mayoral elections across England.
The Tories were sent a clear message by voters as they suffered huge council losses, a by-election collapse in Blackpool, and big defeats in major mayoral races from London to North Yorkshire.
Locally, Labour held Trafford Council and gained two fantastic new councillors in Broadheath and Manor wards. Andy Burnham was also re-elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester, winning almost two thirds of the votes available. The results are an emphatic endorsement of Labour’s positive vision for our region and for Trafford.
It’s also clear that people are fed up with the incompetence, scandal, and failure of successive conservative governments. The public want change and only Labour can deliver it. The general election can’t come soon enough.
As well as spending time on the doorstep campaigning for labour candidates, I was also active in Parliament last week.
I started the week by attending meetings connected to my new role as a member of the Procedure Committee. The Procedure Committee is a committee made up of MPs from all parties that considers how the House of Commons works and makes suggestions on how the legislative process can be improved.
I also attended a debate on assisted dying. Due to a busy diary, I was unfortunately unable to stay for the whole debate or speak during it, but I’m pleased that I had the chance to listen to some of the different views that were expressed on this hugely important and sensitive matter. My own view is that we need a change in the law to give people greater choice, control, and dignity at the end of life.
Before heading back north to help with the local elections, I was able to attend an event in Parliament organised by the homelessness charity, Crisis. As regular readers will know, one of my biggest priorities as an MP is to push for more housebuilding, action on poverty, and protections for private tenants so we can deliver a future free from homelessness. I’ll continue to work with charities such as Crisis to achieve this.
In case you missed it, I also wrote an article last week for the Messenger which you can read here. It’s on the work I’ve been doing with my constituent, Michele, to improve access to dentistry for cancer patients. I was delighted when it was confirmed last week that Michele and I will shortly be meeting with Andrea Leadsom, the government minister with responsibility for dentistry, to talk directly about Michele’s campaign and the issues behind it.
Thank you as always for reading.