I’m writing to ask for your support in the upcoming General Election, because Weston, Worle and the nearby villages have been making huge progress recently and we need to make sure we don’t stop – ‘Ever Forward’, as our local motto says! What does that mean in practice? Our unemployment is low – much better than the national average – and my Jobs Fair has been helping match local employers and jobseekers for over 10 years.

Full statement

The Banwell bypass is underway after decades of waiting and we’ve made sure the motorway junction has been upgraded regularly, easing jams each time they build up. We’ve got Weston hospital growing for the first time in ages, treating more patients for a wider variety of problems; the new diagnostic centre just opened to cut waiting times for medical tests; and we have thousands more GP appointments each month in Weston now than last year. We’ve won £millions of Government cash to breathe fresh life into Weston seafront and town centre, Birnbeck Pier has been rescued - now it’s got to be repaired - and Weston has more police as well: 13% more now than in 2019.

But there’s more to do. We’ve got to cut the jams that are building up again around J21, and we need even more investment and well-paid jobs to keep our unemployment down. We’ve got to regenerate central Weston to make local homes more affordable and stop urban sprawl on greenfields. We need those new bobbies out on the beat to make Weston better for residents, visitors and business investors alike. And more NHS Dentists to go alongside our expanding hospital and GP surgeries. And we’ve got to deliver Net Zero affordably, so we grow cleanly and cheaply at the same time.

But in spite of all our local progress, the last few years have still been tough. Everyone knows the pandemic and the war in Ukraine weren’t caused by anyone here in Britain, but we’ve all felt their effects. Rishi Sunak saved millions of jobs during Covid with his furlough scheme, we’ve got the economy growing strongly and inflation is back under control, but the job isn’t done: NHS waiting lists are coming down, but they aren’t short enough yet. Traditional crime has been falling steadily, but online frauds and scams are picking up. Schools and skills have carried on improving, but the after-effects of lockdowns on pupils are still there.

That’s why I’m writing to ask for your help. I can only carry on delivering this progress here in Weston, or supporting sensible moves for the rest of the country either, if people who think the same way are still willing to lend me their support. Voting for anybody else, or even just abstaining instead, just increases the chance of a result that could take us in the wrong direction for years. Thank you.