About Me
The fight to win Buckingham and Bletchley for Labour is a fight for my family, friends and community.
I was born and grew up in Buckinghamshire and now live with my family in the county.
I’ve spent my life and career fighting for disadvantaged people and communities, both in the UK and overseas.
Having spent almost two decades working across Government and politics in the UK and around the world, I have both the experience and passion to win Buckingham and Bletchley for Labour.
At the root of my passion is my family. Having a son born with severe disabilities has made this fight personal. When I talk about local NHS provision, social care and declining local services it’s not something abstract, but services which are vitally important to my family’s well-being.
Carers and people with disabilities aren’t given enough of a voice in Westminster. An estimated 1 in 4 people in the UK provide some form of unpaid care work. Families like mine need politicians who listen and who understand first-hand the challenges that we face.
I’ve had to fight for my son and family and I’ll fight just as hard for communities across Buckingham and Bletchley, because I’ve spent my life and career fighting for those who usually get left behind by the powerful.
For too long, communities across our area have been left behind, with decisions about local people increasingly made by people with different priorities and values. Buckingham and Bletchley needs a local MP who understands how to make Government work for local people.
This is why I am putting myself forward to be the next MP, so that we can fight for a better future for Buckingham and Bletchley and for our country.
I can only do this with your help. Please join me so that together we can win Buckingham and Bletchley for Labour and transform and rebuild our country.
Why I'm standing
Seeing day in and day out the battle that so many special needs parents like me face just to get basic things for our kids and how we and so many other marginalised groups are just an afterthought for the Government and those in power has had a deep impact on me.
And it's not just families like mine that are being failed by this Government. Like many people I’m deeply frustrated about the state of our politics and know that it is only a Labour Government that can change our country for the better.
I’m standing to be your candidate and MP, not to become a politician, but to change our politics. I know how the system works, and how it fails, and will never stop working to try and change that system so it listens to people and works for communities.
As your candidate and MP I will be passionately focused real change for people in Buckingham and Bletchley.
My Experience
I have worked in Government, politics and international development for almost two decades and I know what it takes to make change happen and to work to build a better world despite the challenges that we face.
Throughout my career I’ve worked in some of the most extreme and challenging situations in the world and succeeded.
- In 2005 I worked at Labour Party HQ as part of the team that delivered an historic third Labour election victory.
- I worked for Alistair Darling when he was the Chancellor at the Treasury during the 2008 financial crisis, when the Labour Government worked to protect the British economy, businesses and people.
- I was the spokesperson for the current Secretary General of the Commonwealth Patricia Scotland, as we fought to ensure she won a second term against the wishes of Boris Johnson and the Conservative Government.
- I lived in Burma working in international development during the Rohingya genocide in 2016, working within the international aid community to try and stop the atrocities of the Burmese military regime.
- I worked for the Labour Party’s Members of the European Parliament, fighting against the misinformation and false arguments of UKIP and the Tory Brexiteer right.
I know what it takes to deliver in Government and how to make Government work for people and communities. I will use this experience and my passion to deliver for Buckingham and Bletchley.
My priorities for Beaconsfield, Marlow and South Bucks
Over the past few years, I’ve spoken with party members, elected Labour representatives, trade unionists, businesses and local people about how we can build a better Buckingham and Bletchley.
About how we can build a community where wealth, income and opportunity are less sharply divided, and where decisions about what happens locally are made locally with the community.
What they’ve told me and what I know is that we can build a better, more equal and more hopeful community and country if we work together to make it happen.
As your candidate and MP I would deliver for Buckingham and Bletchley.
My priorities:
A local NHS fit for the Future
Local NHS services are at breaking point. During lock down I sat in the back of an ambulance with my son as we drove many miles down the long country roads to Stoke Mandeville hospital. That NHS services are so disjointed and run down across our area is appalling.
As your MP I would work to ensure we have enough GPs, nurses, dentists and midwives and proper funding for mental health and social care so that our NHS is equipped to serve the area.
Sustainable solutions to the housing crisis
We desperately need a mix of new council, affordable and other housing across our area. Families should be able to afford to live in good quality homes in the places they live and work. But building houses should never come before building homes.
I would campaign to make sure developers always build the infrastructure needed for the new housing they sell, and that more new council and affordable housing is built, so that everyone has access to a home.
Action on climate
Throughout my life I’ve passionately campaigned and also worked on climate change. Buckingham and Bletchley needs a Labour MP who grasps the enormity of the climate crisis we all face and is prepared to push nationally and internationally for the action we need to protect all our futures.
Local education that serves everyone
I went to state schools in Buckinghamshire and my kids now go to local state schools in the county. I know the challenges many families face in finding the right school and how many of our schools are struggling to make their funding meet the needs of the children they educate.
I’ll work to make sure every school across the area has the resources they need to meet, and raise, the aspirations of pupils, teachers and parents.
An economy that works for everyone
We need a new deal for working people which means an economy that rebuilds workers’ rights, supports the self-employed and small businesses and invests in the science, innovation and the skills we need for the future.
Integrity and honesty in our politics
I don’t want to become a politician, I want to change politics. For too long we have seen politicians obsessed by drama and intrigue in Westminster. We need hard working, passionate people focused only on delivering real change for people across this country.
As your candidate and MP, I would fight to bring back integrity and honesty in our politics so that we can deliver change for Buckingham and Bletchley and our country.