We must keep promises and help towns thrive

WHEN I got my first job in a Greggs bakery at 16, I never would have thought I would be elected to Parliament one day.

Back then, unless you were a Labour candidate pushed by trade unions, the working class struggled to find representation in Parliament, particularly in the Conservative Party.

Margaretthatcher started a revolution for me and many of my colleagues, practising what she preached.

In a speech at ayoung Conservative Conference in 1975, she said: “I believe we should judge people on merit and not on background. I believe the person who is prepared to work hardest should get the greatest rewards and keep them after tax.”

This was what my dad, a lorry driver who went on to launch his own business, taught me: “It doesn’t matter where you come from in life, it what you do that matters. Reach for the stars.”

From that bakery, I continued to work in retail, getting up to management level.the sector that once thrived in what Napoleon called our “nation of shopkeepers” is now struggling, threatened by competitors online, choked by business rates.

Last year, I launched my campaign, Towns of the Future, with the aim to cut business rates, to introduce attractive features to the high street, to keep the roads safe and to guarantee free parking for consumers, and I hope the Government will consider these ideas.

A Conservative Government for the working class must level up the geographical inequalities in our country.

Our towns can’t be dormitories for commuters who work in the nearest city, with no services and no opportunities. Our young talents shouldn’t have to move to London, Manchester or Birmingham to find their dream job. In the age of 5G, it should be possible to grant equal opportunities to everyone.

In the recent election many of my constituents factory workers or former miners, even trade unionists, voted Conservative for the first time.

The election demonstrated that the working class can be Conservative and will be if we keep our promises. It is up to us to make blue-collar Conservatism the norm and not the exception.