Breathless in Brighton

We’re in the middle of the party conference season, and I’m writing this from Labour’s gathering in Brighton. For many people, party conferences seem to be just an endless round of TV interviews with clever journalists trying to catch out politicians.

Sometimes ordinary party members do get a look-in on the media shows, when TV crews ask them awkward questions about how united their party is or whether the leadership is doing a good job. But do conferences matter?

Well I think they do, and I’ll try to explain why. For me, as your new Labour MP, this has proved to be a really busy conference. I’ve been involved in giving speeches to gatherings large and small. From the Labour Women’s Conference, with more than 1,000 in attendance, through smaller gatherings of hundreds of people at a South East Regional reception. In addition, I’ve been networking, networking and networking.

It’s not just about meeting a host of campaign groups, but also about speaking with many influential politicians, trade unionists, and employer and special interest groups. Making these contacts is vital, as it helps me to act effectively as your representative.

Some highlights for me have been speaking about the Jo Cox Women in Leadership Programme.

I’ve also been encouraging women to enter politics, and learning how to deal with people keen to give me their advice on how to be an MP - and there are many prepared to do that.

I was very proud to join Canterbury and Whitstable Labour Party members on the stage at the conference hall, receiving from Jeremy Corbyn a Best Practice award for “engaging members and supporters” in the general election. Canterbury has been mentioned positively at Labour’s conference more times than ever before – you have given people hope and inspiration. What Canterbury voters did has made an impact on Labour as a whole.

I was pleased to introduce our future chancellor, John Mcdonnell, at our regional reception, and proud of his speech on how Labour will transform our economy, how Labour is now the party of effective government, and a party that now has no no-go areas.

I love the fact that Canterbury is a spot of red in Kent’s sea of blue. As I repeatedly say, we have shown what the pundits said was impossible is indeed possible. The next stage will be when Labour turns Kent into a sea of red with only a few spots of blue.