Across the country we have seen political turmoil for the past decade with Brexit, the pandemic, the UK’s shortest serving Prime Minister and a disastrous mini-budget all adding to a sense of instability.
Amongst the unsettled nature of politics, it is clear that many people feel more disconnected from politics than ever, and that trust in the political process is at an all-time low.
This is something I’ve been very conscious of in my own constituency of South West Norfolk, given the way it was treated by our previous MP, who was parachuted in and never really prioritised the needs of local people.
As well as being the first candidate to defeat a former Prime Minister in more than 100 years, achieving the largest swing from the Conservatives to Labour in a general election ever, I also have the title of being the MP with the lowest winning vote share in the country (26.7%). Nearly three times as many people in my constituency voted for someone else and 40% of the electorate did not vote for anyone.
Understandably therefore, engagement and listening have been at the core of my work over the past year, and my presence as a constituency-focused MP has come as quite a shock for many.
‘There’s not a single issue that unites everyone’
Nationally, the party has been working on the Listen – Change – Win strategy. My own interpretation of that most recently was my summer listening tour in July which took me to 36 of my 72 villages in the constituency.
One of the challenges with South West Norfolk, as is the case with most large rural constituencies, is that there’s not a single issue that unites everyone. Priorities and concerns can vary from village to village and understanding that is key.
The tour was a huge insight to the place I have called home all my life. We visited four to five villages every Friday and Saturday for the month, using a local leaflet delivery service, parish newsletters and social media to spread the word.
During the tour we would arrive at the village green or pub car park, open the boot of the car and pop up the table and chairs. We anticipate around 300 people took the time to meet with me during the month and what was particularly interesting was that they were people who had not engaged with me previously.
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‘You’re the first socialist I’ve ever considered voting for!’
The majority of issues raised during the month were entirely local – speeding and other highways issues being most frequent, followed by the environment and nature issues which are regular in my inbox. In my experience, when given a choice, people are most interested in their community, their neighbourhood, their street, and they want to feel like those in power understand their issues and will be a champion for them.
An elderly gentleman I spoke with had voted Conservative his whole life but voted independent at the last general election as he could not bring himself to vote for Truss. He said to me, “You’re the first socialist I’ve ever considered voting for!”
This was quite a theme during the tour, with many people confessing to having voted for other candidates but were very appreciative of an MP still willing to engage with them. Most people had never met an MP, let alone held a conversation with them, particularly whilst sitting on a fold-out chair outside their village hall or on their public green, and people routinely praised the grass-roots democracy focus of it.
One particular village, Stow Bardolph was quite memorable. Close to Downham Market, nearly every property in the village is owned by the Hare Family – Nicholas Hare in 1553 being a former Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. Stow Bardolph is a very beautiful village but even so, I wasn’t expecting the free-roaming village peacocks to join us for the stop!
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‘People need to believe that change will come’
National issues of course came up too, most frequently of all – immigration, the economy and cost of living. As a councillor for 17 years prior to being an MP, I’ve always tried to work cross-party and engage with people who do not normally vote Labour. It’s especially important to do this in a rural county like Norfolk where there is not a huge core Labour vote. I’ve always taken the time to listen to people’s concerns. Finding common ground is important but it’s also ok to not agree, as long as the conversations and interactions are guided by genuine listening and treating each other with respect.
As politicians we have an abundance of information about any given subject, but it is easy to forget that most people won’t have seen all of the data. Many people are understandably too busy with their lives and motivated by what they feel to be the case. I believe our job as MPs is to listen to those concerns and where possible, demonstrate that the government is listening and working to address them – providing tangible examples whenever possible.
Most people understand that change does not happen overnight, but people do need to believe that change will come, and they need to see that politicians understand their concerns and listen to them.
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