No candidate can win an election alone, and I recognise the crucial value of campaigning and engaging with people, as it's the only way that we have seen Labour win in this city.
1. Southampton Itchen is the most marginal seat in the country. We need to mobilise activists, communities and non-voters to win.
We came close to winning Itchen last year, but whenever the next general election comes, circumstances won’t be the same. We need a candidate who will listen to our members and to voters about what’s important to them. We need a candidate who can communicate our radical Labour policies to the widest range of people. When I was elected a Councillor, I was the first Labour voice in Peartree ward for more than a decade. We won that seat with by working with a strong team, knowing our neighbourhoods, and winning the trust of local residents. When I was
2. To get a Labour government, we need to win this seat. I will fight for every single person who needs a Labour MP and a Labour government
Knocking on doors, running street stalls, community organising, talking to families at the school gates, running
3. We can't let Royston Smith run away from his record. We need to highlight the government’s
Since 2015, Itchen has had a Conservative MP who is so busy between simply propping up the government in the voting lobbies, and doing private consultancy work, that he barely has time for constituents’ concerns. People’s concerns continue to change regarding Brexit, more lives are being affected by the disastrous roll-out of Universal Credit, their children are taught in underfunded schools, and they tell us about having operations cancelled due to lack of capacity in our NHS hospitals and overworked medical staff. Harsh Tory cuts continue to hit people hard in Southampton. Our campaign must address these vital issues, and we must make clear that we are listening, that Labour will tackle these challenges and inequalities, that the Tory government's policies are failing them, that Labour is on their side, and that there is an alternative. I will be a candidate - and MP - who builds relationships and networks with local people, working together to empower residents and transform Itchen’s communities.