making the change

My life has always been political. My mum was a regional councillor when I was young; she has since got a degree in politics and worked for various labour politicians. My dad is currently a labour councillor. One of my sisters used to teach modern studies and the other used to be an organiser in the Labour Party. It’s hardly surprising that I too have ended up leading a politically based life.


In April 1997 I was an 11 year old who would tell anyone that listened about why you should voted labour. I could name all 5 labour pledges and things can only get better was my favourite song. Now at 24, 13 years later not much has changed, well I can only listen to D-ream in small doses but politics still dominates my life.


Living in my political bubble I recognise that I am different to most people. Most people don’t see how politics affects every aspect of their lives, from how much they pay in tax to whether the pot holes in the road will get fixed.


During the election the thing that frustrated me most was not those who were voting Tory (in Fife that was more of a comical shock than anything else) or those voting Lib Dem/ SNP no it was the ones who didn’t care. What continually got me down were those who never vote, who didn’t see the point and who believe politicians were all out for themselves. We as those who are active in politics are the ones who need to address this, to show people than you can make a difference and to show them that most politicians are striving to make a difference in their local communities.


I first came across the idea of community organising in Barack Obama’s book Dreams from my father. The idea essentially is local people getting together to tackle issues that affect them. That is why I signed up to become a Future Leader as part David Miliband’s movement for change.

I truly believe that in order to win again the Labour party must become a movement again. We have to be able to show people what we stand for. We have to take those in the community with us and this means working together with them about the issues that affect us all. It’s only through doing this that we will be able to stand with our local communities against the cuts that are already starting to take place. It is also only by doing this that we will win back those who voted against us.


I went to my training session on Saturday in Glasgow. I left feeling inspired. It wasn’t all about David Miliband it was about how we can take forward issues and build a movement. In fact right at the beginning it was said “it’s great if you’re supporting David but that’s not what today’s about”. I am supporting David but whether he wins or loses I am going to be thinking about issues in my local community and who I can work with inside and out of my political bubble to change them.

Thoughts on the Leadership

“This campaign can't only be about me...It must be about what we can do together." – Barack Obama February 2007 Presidential Announcement



When casting our votes in the Labour Leadership election we should perhaps give some thought to the words above. We have 5 capable and intelligent candidates who all believe in the Labour Party and its values. No matter who is elected they will do the party justice and will strive for a fairer society. Therefore it’s not simply about who they are it’s also about what they and the party can do together.

Obviously everyone will have a personal reaction to each candidate. When the campaign started I had no idea who I was going to support. I was still getting over the elation of winning in my own constituency of Dunfermline and West Fife and then the disappointment that there was now a Tory Government. I therefore had an open mind and waited to see who inspired me.

Lets face it the party needs that inspiration, particularly now. I along with many others have, every weekend for the last two years, been knocking on doors, phoning people and persuading them to vote Labour and to help keep the Tories out. I did this because I have been brought up to believe that we need is a fairer society and I know that only Labour is dedicated to achieving that goal. What we need now is someone who can once again unite the party and those who support us so that we can be in a position to deliver that goal.

It is for this reason that I am supporting David Miliband. I was lucky enough to get to see him speak to Labour MSP’s in the Scottish Parliament. He spoke with passion and conviction and I truly believed in what he was saying. He came across as open, honest and approachable. I felt that he truly wanted to engage and to hear what people had to say and I am sure that he will have taken on board what were some tough questions on the day. I then watched the leadership hustings in Glasgow and the Newsnight hustings and still believed both in him and what he was saying.

What particularly struck a chord with me was his vision of training 1000 community organisers across the country. This I believe has to be at the heart of our party. We cannot move forward if we don’t take our communities with us.

As I have said I have been inspired and I believe that no matter who wins this Leadership campaign is good for the party. It allows us to debate and deliberate and not only is this healthy but I think it is needed.

I live in hope that the next general election it will be a victory for the Labour Party like the one in 1997. I was a bit too young at the time to apprieciate it fully. My memories are of my mum opening the windows and doors in the house at 2am and blasting “Things Can Only Get Better”. Whatever the outcome I know I will be there again knocking on doors rain , sleet or snow because as Barack said it's about what we can do together.