Dr Rizwana Lala is arguably the most left-wing of the remaining four candidates on the shortlist to become Sheffield Central’s next MP. She lives and works in the constituency as a public health lead for the NHS. She’s an active trade unionist and campaigns against the hostile environment within the NHS. She took time out of campaigning to speak to me this week. She told me her parents – who were not originally from the UK, came here looking for a better life. They did factory work, and Rizwana says “They came for a better life for them and their children, they were supportive in terms of school but it was difficult. We lived in overcrowded and unsafe housing, there were four of us sharing a room in a very small house. I did well in school through hard work. It was a very proud moment for me and the family, not just here but abroad as well; did that shape my politics? Yes. I think it’s very important that people have good living standards. It’s really important that schools and universities understand the context in which young people achieve. I’ve worked with universities to widen participation, and also extracurricular things, my view is that people with extracurricular experience of working is just as important as someone who has skills in piano. Those things have shaped my politics, my policies, and my outlook. Really thinking structurally about the barriers people face.”
One of those policies in Rizwana’s manifesto is the mass building of greener council homes. She says the idea is informed by national policy. “I’d fight for funding to come to Sheffield as well. We don’t always get our share so I’d make sure that funding comes to us and council homes are green council homes. When I talk about funding local communities, what I mean is a local democratic economy. Local jobs, local programmes for building, by local builders. I’ll be pushing for local procurement. That needs to be a holistic view with a public health policy that reduces the carbon footprint as well. We need homes that have access to services, like healthcare and access to local jobs in sectors such as retail – in local shops and local businesses.”
Dr Lala also pledges to deliver mental health support in schools and the community. I asked if she thought there was a link between the hardest hit poverty-stricken areas and increased levels of mental health. She says, “The more depravation you have, the more mental health problems you are likely to experience. That is a structural problem. In places like Sheffield, the healthy life expectancy gap between the rich and the poor people is over nineteen years, that’s because of issues like not being able to afford healthy food, living in poor accommodation, and in more polluted areas, and these things don’t only make you physically ill but cause mental health problems too. It’s about driving up living standards – the reason we’re getting an increase in mental health problems is the same reason why we are seeing increases in physical problems. People’s living standards are just so low. Children living in poverty are four times more likely to end up in hospitals with preventable diseases. Things like dental care; because children can’t sleep at night because of tooth ache, they’re doing badly at school as a result and experiencing bullying and that stigma as well. Their parents are often in work but having to take time off and it’s driving people deeper into poverty. Thinking about these structural issues, as a public health person, my focus is on prevention and looking at the long-term prevention of diseases and improving health. First and foremost that means improving living standards for children and that means accessible services within communities and schools.”
Rizwana also promises to widen arts participation and access to under represented children and communities. She said, “For working-class kids, there is a focus on getting a good job to get you out of poverty essentially, but the way we are moving, people need to go to university to get a good job and for that, you need to pay £9,000 and I’d like to see a shift away from that narrative. That’s one of the reasons I support the abolition of tuition fees. Cuts to schools has disproportionately meant the focus is on subjects such as maths and so the first thing to go is arts. If you look at courses at the University of Sheffield, they have a reasonably diverse population of students, but if you’re studying music it will be predominantly middle-class students. The reality is that structurally in this country, it’s very difficult to study music at university level if your parents haven’t paid for some sort of arts lessons either in private school or outside of school tuition. In schools, services just aren’t available for working-class children in arts and it isn’t fair and it’s getting worse because of cuts.
Rizwana says if elected, she will contribute a minimum of 10% of her MP’s salary to local community groups and justice movements. She said the idea was inspired by Nottingham East Labour MP Nadia Whittome, who was elected to Parliament at the age of just 23. As the mother of a young child – still in primary school, Rizwana would certainly incur significant costs when working in London and paying for childcare, but she says “I am inspired by Nadia, she takes a workers salary. It’s really important for me that I’m not earning massively more money than the people in communities that I represent, in terms of how I’m able to understand communities and represent them in parliament.” It has been suggested that the Nottingham MP donates more than half her salary to charities and local causes. Ms Whittome is among several well-known faces endorsing Rizwana’s campaign. Other names include local poet and novelist Rachel Bowler, ASLEF and the Fire Brigade trade unions, and left-wing journalist Owen Jones.
Eddie Izzard is a personality like no other. The very mention of her name on social media seems to attract a never-ending stream of emotions. Some are devoted fans, many with stories of admiration for Eddie. Others are offended by her inclusion on an all-woman shortlist, despite the fact there isn’t an all-woman shortlist. The party announced months ago that no such lists would be used for the next General Election. They may still be used in future, but as this is a selection process to replace the incumbent MP Paul Blomfield – when he retires at the next General Election, it is clear she is not on any such list. For those still in doubt, she issued a statement reiterating the fact.
Aside from the all-woman shortlist brigade, there’s the she’s a he, he’s a he (or countless other variations on the theme) in response to the slightest mention of her name. No doubt this article will attract more such comments. It has to be said though, there are also many people from Sheffield and beyond that support Izzard. Those on the other side of the argument say they want a local person to be the MP, not in favour of parachuting in someone who doesn’t know the area.
Izzard is certainly the most high-profile name on the longlist of Labour candidates looking to replace the well-respected Paul Blomfield. In a show of solidarity, all six of the Labour candidates issued a joint statement condemning the abuse levelled at Izzard. Sadly, other candidates have also reported receiving sexist and racist abuse. Eddie now chooses to use the pronoun she, so that is what I will use. If you don’t like it, take it up with her.
Eddie Izzard’s quest to be an MP isn’t a flight of fancy. Izzard’s roots in the Labour Party run deep. She has campaigned for the party for 15 years in more than 125 constituencies and has donated considerable funds to the cause. She has served as a member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee. Many will remember her sharing the stage with Ed Miliband when he became party leader in 2010.
I spoke to Eddie earlier this week. She told me that she understood the views of those wanting a local candidate but set about convincing me of her affinity to the city. Sheffield, she said, was the first city she chose to live in, when she attended Sheffield University. It was during her time in Sheffield that she first took to the stage to perform. She has since performed her routines on many of Sheffield’s most iconic stages – such as the City Hall and the Leadmill. Earlier this year, she added her voice to the campaign to save the popular venue, saying, “The Leadmill started when I was in Uni in Sheffield. It was a great venue then and remains a great beacon for new bands and rock music in Sheffield.”
She told me she loved Sheffield because the people always made her welcome. Already well-travelled by the time she arrived here, she was struck by the kindness of Sheffield folk. She told me in an impressively convincing Sheffield accent that strangers would ask her if she had enough money for the bus fare. If anyone thinks she doesn’t know Sheffield and its people, they are mistaken. She has put in the hard yards. She knows key individuals of charities and organisations across the city, including in communities like Manor Castle – where she has been out and about leaflet dropping and talking to people. She has extensive knowledge of local councillors and acknowledges how hard they work for their communities. “People think I’ll never be here and I’ll be living in London but I won’t. I’ll be here full time, living in Sheffield, that I promise you.” She said.
One area that Eddie has shown her support locally is with the local food bank. She has made donations, taken part in fundraisers, and helped Walkley Labour at their recent foodbank collection on South Road. This is a local flavour of her dedication.
A well-known Labour source added “Eddie is a brave pioneer. She came out as trans in the 80s and has used her profile to raise the voices of the world’s most vulnerable children and raise funds to support them. Now, she is doing the same for families in our community that need it the most.”
It is easy to see why Izzard’s profile positions her uniquely on the global stage. Since her early days on the circuit of Sheffield, her career has seen her live shows move to somewhat bigger arenas, like Madison Square Garden, and that is why Eddie says she can put Sheffield on the world map, using her national profile to promote the city. “I’m not the conventional candidate, but I am the one who will make the biggest impact,” she declared. “I can help to champion Sheffield internationally in a way that other candidates might struggle and, for example, build on our already solid base in the creative industries.”
I asked if the anti-trans agenda could detract from any positive message she tries to share. She told me unequivocally, no. “I’ve always been trans. I was trans 37 years ago. I tried to run 27 marathons in South Africa for Nelson Mandela and I ran 32 marathons in 31 days. I ran all of them wearing lipstick and nail varnish. Trans people have been around for centuries.” There will always be haters, there always has been, but Izzard says she simply ignores the abuse and refuses to let the issue define her. “It’s water off a duck’s back.” She says.
Like many people, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Eddie Izzard. For starters, I didn’t expect her to talk to me – an unknown writer with very little exposure. I was pleasantly surprised that she not only agreed to speak to me, but when I was in a meeting when she called the first time, she made the time to call me at a time that was convenient for me, and it has to be said was remarkably punctual when she called back.
Abtisam Mohamed is among the shortlist of candidates hoping to replace Paul Blomfield in the Labour safe seat of Sheffield Central. She grew up in Burngreave and still lives there today. I caught up with her this week to find out how the former Earl Marshall School student became a successful lawyer and local councillor and why she wants to be an MP in Sheffield. She told me, “I remember speaking to someone from careers at school and I said that I want to go into law. Their advice was, you’re not going to because of the school you go to and the area you live in. They told me to try something a little more achievable, maybe childcare. So, the aspirations weren’t high.”
Abtisam says it was drilled into her and her classmates that because of where she lived – in Burngreave, there were certain limits to how far they could go. Inspired by her English teacher, she scraped through, leaving with four GCSEs. “I always cling on to those, because people always say they’re not proper GCSEs and I say every single GCSE counted. Two of those were in Drama and DT but the other two key ones were English and Maths.” She says, “It really mattered having the right teacher.”
At that point, Abtisam says she would never have imagined being a local councillor, let alone an MP. After leaving Earl Marshall school (now known as Fir Vale Secondary), Abtisam studied for A-levels at college but didn’t pass. She recalls a feeling that it didn’t matter, and that she was only doing them for the sake of it. “Aspirations were so low, very few of my friends went on to University. Some went straight into employment and some classmates ended up on the other side of the law. That was our reality growing up. The grit of everyday life and the environment around you teaches you to be streetwise, but the grit and fighting spirit get you through.” She says.
Undeterred by her education experience, Abtisam returned to University as a mature student determined not to let her surroundings define who she was. “It pushed me to think people from our area really have to fight to change things for themselves.” She added, “Your surroundings can either make you stronger or they can break you. For the overwhelming majority, there is a real motivation to change things for the better. Sometimes you’ve got to push a little bit harder than maybe some others would have to, because of those factors.”
Ms Mohamed has served on the council for six years, being elected three times by a large majority. She told me, “The thing I enjoy most about local politics is being out in the ward as much as possible. Being visible in the area, and dealing with people’s individual problems, is why I got involved in politics. Making those changes at a local level is what matters to people.”
I asked her what she considers her greatest achievement so far. She said, “When I look back at the mountains I’ve had to climb In life, just getting to where I am with a smile on my face feels like a huge achievement in itself.”
Abtisam also carried the Olympic torch in Sheffield – a reward for the work she had done in the community, which led to her nomination along with five others, for Woman of the year.
She has dealt with some heart-wrenching cases as a human rights lawyer and says winning some of those cases has given her great satisfaction. In her role as councillor, she wrote the bid for Firth Park to access Economic recovery funding, securing a much-needed £200,000 for the area. She brought the community together with local businesses to decide how to spend the money, which is also a significant achievement.
Paul Blomfield has been Sheffield Central MP since 2010, increasing a tiny minority to a considerable one. He recently announced that he is to stand down at the next General Election. Abtisam believes Sheffield needs someone local to replace Paul. “There needs to be an understanding of what Sheffield as a city needs and that comes from local knowledge and working with people and organisations on the ground. We also need someone who will work hard.
I’ve seen Paul at work. He’s one of the hardest-working MPs we have. He’s leaving a great legacy that has to be continued. We also need a connection between local communities and national policy. People who are elected should be able to understand what matters in their local communities and use that to form their priorities on the national arena. It should always be from the ground up, not from top to bottom.”
With a Labour success looking increasingly likely, when the public does go to the ballot boxes, Abtisam acknowledges that there will be huge pressure on Labour to succeed. She says, “The economy has been destroyed by the Tory Government. I worry that there is an expectation that Labour will just turn things around immediately. My key priorities will be fighting inequality and investing in a greener and fairer economy. Investment in our public services is essential as is creating long-term sustainable and decent jobs. I’ll also be advocating for regeneration and proper levelling up in communities.”
To bring together the diverse areas within Sheffield Central, Abtisam says listening and being available is vital. While many areas may experience quite different issues, she says those different issues are still important to people, “Some issues may have more of a priority, and some areas might have more pressing needs, but I will work to balance the different needs that have to be addressed. I will make myself available in the constituency, and people will know who their local MP is. We will campaign to bring people together for the greater cause of fighting for a Labour Government so that we can make the changes needed to help people thrive in their lives.”
Sheffield is a wonderfully diverse city and has a longlist of candidates that is just as diverse. Abtisam Mohamed says she is the person to be selected because she has lived in the city for over thirty years since her dad worked at Forge Masters. She has worked tirelessly alongside communities and for communities, listening and understanding what local people want. “I started right at the bottom of community development, she said, “and progressed to working on bigger community projects supporting more people. I believe in the power of people and that communities if supported can make change, but that change can only happen with support and investment. I’ve done this through my work in the voluntary sector, as a councillor, and using the political means available to me to try to make change locally. As a lawyer, I use the legal system to help people navigate the complex system, and the kind of law that I do – asylum and human rights law, is life-changing for many. For me, I have always been about helping people and making things better for individuals and wider communities. It feels like a natural step to now make change at a national level and influence the policies that affect our very communities.”
The longlist of candidates that want to be Sheffield Central’s MP when Paul Blomfield retires at the next General Election – whenever that may be, is an interesting and diverse one. This week, one of those candidates Mike Buckley cycled to a café on Ecclesall Road to buy me a coffee and tell me why he should be elected.
Mike grew up in the Woodhouse area of the city, where his mum was a school teacher and his dad was a vicar. He told me, “My dad’s not around anymore – mum still is, but I just remember them both being a force for good. Mum’s a little old lady now, and she still goes and visits other little old ladies who are sick or in hospital or she’s making a cake for someone. It’s just how can I make the world around me a better place? That’s be kind to people who are in distress or be a friend to people in need. They were my example and that’s how I choose to live as well.”
After studying International Politics at Birmingham University, Mike started work as an aid worker. He explained, “Through friends of friends, I got offered my first job in Lebanon, working for a small charity who were just starting up. I worked there for a couple of years and fell in love with the country and the language, but I really fell in love with being active and able to make a difference to people’s lives.”
Mike later was able to work for larger organisations such as Christian Aid. He worked in and around Baghdad, and in Asia just after the tsunami. He said, “Literally the whole community was nothing, It was a massive privilege being in those areas that were devastated and very dependent on what we brought. I don’t think about it often but when I do I’m proud of that. Of course, it wasn’t all my work, but I’m very proud and very humbled that I had the opportunity to do that. I’m genuinely grateful.”
He says, the system that almost always makes wealthy people wealthier, in the UK and globally, is the issue and the solution to all that is better politics. He told me, “I did a lot of work in Syria (before the conflicts of the last decade) and Georgia. Georgia has no more natural resources than Syria, they are basically the same in terms of what they’ve got but what Georgia has, that Syria doesn’t, is a good, well-intentioned government that cares about its citizens. Georgia is a well-run country and incredibly prosperous compared to Syria, it’s peaceful. It’s not perfect, but they get a hell of a lot right. So I was aware then and I am now of just how important good governments are.” As a Labour candidate, Mike is keen to point out that, ”12 years ago when Labour left office, we had the highest NHS satisfaction ratings in its existence, now I don’t know the figures – but it must be awful because people can’t get a GP appointment, ambulances are not turning up on time because they have to wait for ages to drop people off at A&E.”
Mike returned to the UK in 2010 and got involved in politics because he believed that was his route to having an impact in the UK. In the last decade, he has worked with refugee migration centres, fighting for rights for asylum seekers and refugees, “Particularly to try and force the Cameron government, as they did, to allow refugees into the country.”
Mike has also worked with the Labour party on the Living wage drive, as well as working on the campaign against payday loans, Mike described these loans as giving mini loans to people at the bottom of the pile, with exorbitant interest rates which basically tied people into debt that was unsustainable. He said, “It was evil. We won on that and got George Osbourn to make that illegal.”
Mr Buckley has also campaigned locally to get Labour people elected here in Sheffield and across the country, and also worked on Andy Burnham’s leadership campaign in 2015. He is still a big supporter of Burnham and says “At times I wonder what the world would have looked like if Andy had won that election. He and Sadiq (Mayor of London) are great examples of different kind of politician. They say how can I use my role to make people’s lives better, I can’t say that the same can be said for any of the Conservative Prime Ministers we’ve had in the last 12 years.”
Over the last 5 years, Mike has worked almost non-stop on Brexit. He explains, “I believe in people working together at a grassroots level, at a national level and at a European level. I believe in collaboration and that we achieve more when we work together. We are a lot poorer because we’ve got the hard Brexit deal that we’ve got. You don’t see it because of course you can’t imagine the hypothetical where things are better. the hypothetical is Sheffield is thriving, there are more new businesses, there’s more building, more housing, more jobs, more taxpayers and more money for public services. There’s a lot in that hypothetical timeline that would be better, but we’re not there and I want to do something about that.” He added, “One of the ways I describe the impact of Brexit is this year we’ve all been talking about Russia’s war with Ukraine, and the western world has been putting sanctions on Russia; Sanctions ultimately, on their ability to trade, to make it harder for them to run their economy. Brexit is like putting sanctions on yourself. Normal countries don’t do stuff like this.
If we want our country to thrive, we’ve got to turn that around. Most importantly, are we going to be able to make the big changes we need to see to make our country fairer and more equal, to take on climate change and to get the public services we want. A significant majority probably recognise now that things haven’t worked out. We are saying we want a closer relationship with Europe. That’s not the same as saying we want another referendum, people don’t want that, and we’re not campaigning for that. What we are doing is looking at where we are and asking the question, is this where we want to stay? And if not, what do we want?”
If Mike is elected, he has pledged to make himself accessible, visiting not only constituency meetings but holding quarterly question times, where members of the public- not just Labour party members can go along and ask questions. He also plans to be on Radio Sheffield as often as possible so those that can’t go and ask him a question can at least hear someone else hold him to account. He insisted, “I want to make myself available. The only way people will trust me is if they can interact with me, or at least hear me interact with someone else on the radio.”
The longlist of candidates that want to be Sheffield Central’s MP when Paul Blomfield retires at the next General Election – whenever that may be, is an interesting and diverse one. One of the names on that list is Mike Buckley.
Mike grew up in the Woodhouse area of the city, where his mum was a school teacher and his dad was a vicar. He remembers growing up in a really great community. “My experience of that was through the church, lots of people, loads of kids – big Sunday school in those days, there was regularly 50 or 60 kids there, so loads of opportunity to make friends.”
How can I make the world around me a better place?
Although at the time, Mike thought his childhood was typical, he says it was his early years that shaped much of his adult life. “With Dad being a Vicar, we were big figures in the community. That’s maybe where my childhood was slightly different to others, being a vicar is a public role. There were lots of people coming through the house, I remember occasionally other kids would make fun of me, but I never understood why – my dad’s got a job just like your dad’s got a job. In your early years, I guess your parents are your example of how a human chooses to live. There were a lot of evenings where we didn’t see dad, but that’s just the job. My dad’s not around anymore – mum still is, but I just remember them both being a force for good. Mum’s a little old lady now, and she still goes and visits other little old ladies who are sick or in hospital or she’s making a cake for someone. It’s just how can I make the world around me a better place? That’s be kind to people who are in distress or be a friend to people in need. They were my example and that’s how I choose to live as well.”
I really fell in love with being active and able to make a difference to people’s lives.
Mike studied International Politics at Birmingham University and at the age of 25 found himself heading abroad. “I didn’t grow up thinking I want to be an aid worker, when I graduated I kind of knew I wanted to do good in the world but I didn’t quite know how or where I wanted to do it. Through friends of friends, I got offered my first job in Lebanon, working for a small charity who were just starting up. I worked there for a couple of years and fell in love with the country and the language, but I really fell in love with being active and able to make a difference to people’s lives. Lebanon was a middle-income country, it’s in a worse state now than it was then sadly, but even then, there was a hell of a lot of poverty and we did what we could to change people’s lives. We gave them an education, I worked in Palestinian refugee camps teaching them English, we went down to occupied parts of the country with big trucks with relief materials and ran programmes partnered with local charities. We did a lot of work with disabled kids because there was no decent provision for them, they were just stuck at home, whereas here they’d be able to have much more normal lives. In a way, we were learning as we went but it was a massive privilege to be able to do it.”
Mike returned to the UK and got a master’s degree which allowed him to get involved with bigger organisations such as Christian Aid, then he worked in Iraq just after the war in 2003 fixing up health centres, in and around Baghdad, and in Asia just after the tsunami. He said, “Literally the whole community was nothing, It was a massive privilege being in those areas that were devastated and very dependant on what we brought.” This isn’t said in a boastful way, on the contrary. There are undoubtedly a lot of people that are still alive today that might not be were it not for the work Mike and others did, “I don’t think about it often but when I do I’m proud of that. Of course, it wasn’t all my work, but I’m very proud and very humbled that I had the opportunity to do that. I’m genuinely grateful.”
The lessons Mike learned in those years are put into perspective in today’s world, “In those days one of the big problems facing the world was AIDS, now of course it’s climate change.” He says, the system that almost always makes wealthy people wealthier, in the UK and globally, is the issue and the solutions to all that is better politics. He told me, “I did a lot of work in Syria (before the conflicts of the last decade) and Georgia. Georgia has no more natural resources than Syria, they are basically the same in terms of what they’ve got but what Georgia has, that Syria doesn’t, is a good, well-intentioned government that cares about it’s citizens. Georgia is a well-run country and incredibly prosperous compared to Syria, it’s peaceful. It’s not perfect, but they get a hell of a lot right. So I was aware then and I am now of just how important good governments are.” As a Labour candidate, Mike is keen to point out that, ”12 years ago when Labour left office, we had the highest NHS satisfaction ratings in its existence, now I don’t know the figures – but it must be awful because people can’t get a GP appointment, ambulances are not turning up on time because they have to wait for ages to drop people off at A&E.”
Recent research shared by the Financial Times estimated that 500 people are dying every week because the NHS can’t cope with demand put upon it through a lack of staff, and labour shortages, and Mike is certain it’s “because it’s been mismanaged for so long, and whether it’s doctors, nurses, or midwives, that’s a result of bad governments. I’ve seen the impact of that overseas and I see it here. If we have good government we can make Britain fairer, more prosperous, more equal, greener – all the things in the other direction to the direction they’ve going in for twelve years.”
Mike returned to the UK in 2010 and got involved in politics because he believed that was his route to having an impact in the UK. In the last decade, he has worked with refugee migration centres, fighting for rights for asylum seekers and refugees, “Particularly to try and force the Cameron government, as they did, to allow refugees into the country.”
He’s also done a lot with many different parts of the Labour party. He has worked with labour MPs and as a community organiser. To explain what that means, he says, “The most famous community organiser in the world is Barrack Obama. Obama worked as a community organiser, it’s a local – grassroots kind of politics, where you bring different people together to overcome some kind of injustice. That might be there just isn’t a school crossing, or it might be the council isn’t putting double-glazed windows in or insulating properties with loft insulation, or it could be that people are not being paid a decent wage or a living wage, or there isn’t a decent bus route between X and Y and if there were it would reduce peoples inconvenience and keep everyone safe. So I love that, bringing together people from different parts of the community who can all campaign for something that can affect them.”
Mike has also worked with the Labour party on the Living wage drive, as well as working on the campaign against payday loans, Mike described these loans as giving mini loans to people at the bottom of the pile, with exorbitant interest rates which basically tied people into debt that was unsustainable. He said, “It was evil. We won on that and got George Osbourn to make that illegal. I’ve worked with many different labour MPs that were interested in making a difference in their communities – even when labour wasn’t in power. Mike has also campaigned locally to get Labour people elected here in Sheffield and across the country, and also worked on Andy Burnham’s leadership campaign in 2015. He is still a big supporter of Burnham and says “At times I wonder what the world would have looked like if Andy had won that election. He and Sadiq (Mayor of London) are great examples of a different kind of politician. They say how can I use my role to make people’s lives better, I can’t say that the same can be said for any of the Conservative Prime Ministers we’ve had in the last 12 years.”
In the last 5 years, Mike has worked almost non-stop on Brexit. He explains, “I got into it for a lot of different reasons, I believe in people working together at a grassroots level, at a national level and at a European level. I believe in collaboration and that we achieve more when we work together. The main reason is looking at the projections of the economic impact, it’s cost us 4 or 5% of our economy. Not just in the short term, but forever – or until we change it. So London, the big economic power in the UK, their economy has been impacted 1 or 2 % worse than it would have been. Here in Sheffield, Yorkshire, the South East, Cornwall and Wales, the hit is 9 or 10%. We are a lot poorer because we’ve got the hard Brexit deal that we’ve got. You don’t see it because of course you can’t imagine the hypothetical where things are better. the hypothetical is Sheffield is thriving, there are more new businesses, there’s more buildings, more housing, more jobs, more taxpayers and more money for public services. There’s a lot in that hypothetical timeline that would be better. but we’re not there and I want to do something about that.”
Brexit is like putting sanctions on yourself. Normal countries don’t do stuff like this.
In 2018/19 Mike ran a campaign for either a 2nd referendum or the softest possible Brexit, working with senior MPs such as Keir Starmer, David Lammy, and Rachel Reeves, people who are in his words – now in the Shadow cabinet and will be in the Cabinet of the next Labour Government because together we were passionate about making this stop. He said, “We worked with all sides of the labour party. I talked to people on the left and the right because it wasn’t a right or left thing, it was a right or wrong thing. Obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted so I now run a commission which has about 30 people from trade unions, business, journalism, and policymakers, and we’re looking sector by sector, region by region, at the impact of the Brexit arrangements that we’ve got. Its not controversial now to say that Boris Johnson did a bad thing but Boris Johnson did a bad thing – the agreements are nowhere near good enough. Most people, with the exception possibly of the current government, would acknowledge that. Certainly, Keir Starer has. We are working out how that’s impacting different sectors, in the economy, different parts of society, in health care, education, policing, and of course, particularly Northern Ireland, where it impacts them very differently in society and in the Good Friday agreement. It’s a privilege again, but it’s also about learning about a lot of really hard stuff. One of the ways I describe the impact of Brexit is this year we’ve all been talking about Russia’s war with Ukraine, and the western world has been putting sanctions on Russia; Sanctions ultimately, on their ability to trade, to make it harder for them to run their economy. Brexit is like putting sanctions on yourself. Normal countries don’t do stuff like this.
If we want our country to thrive, we’ve got to turn that around. Most importantly, are we going to be able to make the big changes we need to see to make our country fairer and more equal, to take on climate change and to get the public services we want. A significant majority probably recognise now that things haven’t worked out. We are saying we want a closer relationship with Europe. That’s not the same as saying we want another referendum, people don’t want that, and we’re not campaigning for that. What we are doing is looking at where we are and asking the question, is this where we want to stay? And if not, what do we want?”
Paul Blomfield was first narrowly elected in 2010 by just 137 votes and retained his seat in 2015 extending his majority to 17,309, a majority he extended further at the last General Election in 2019 to over 27,000. Mike acknowledges that Mr Blomfield’s shoes will be big ones to fill. He said, “Paul’s been very good as a steadfast, hardworking MP and he’s earned a lot of respect here in Sheffield and in Westminster. He’s not just got the basics right – he’s done more than get the basics right. He runs his office well, he has the right staff, he’s not tried to make himself a media celebrity and he’s been a team player in the Labour party. Those are the right things to do because it’s a team sport, not an individual route to fame and fortune. What Sheffield needs from its next MP, is someone with a very clear focus on fixing the inequalities in our city, which are now unacceptable in terms of wealth, in terms of income, but also in terms of health. Rich men in our city live 10 years longer than poor men. That’s staggering. Rich women live 7 years longer than poor women. I find that staggering. These inequalities between rich and poor and indeed between people of different ethnicities – if you come from the wrong ethnic background, you find it harder to get a decent education. The next MP for Sheffield Central needs to not just talk about these inequalities, not just say I’m going to talk about this down in London, they need to yes – talk about them in London, and when we get a labour government, but also take action here. The best MPs wake up in the morning and think how am I going to make people’s lives better in my bit of the world. Yes, some of that’s in London changing policies and laws but some of it’s here, a lot of it’s here. Particularly as a new MP, bringing people together, talking to the Mayor, talking to the council, business leaders, and charities, bringing people together and saying what resources do we have now and what changes can we make here? How do we make Sheffield more attractive to external investment? A lot of business leaders have told me the big problem is businesses are just not looking at Sheffield. They look north and they go to Manchester, they go to Liverpool. That’s borne out by the data that shows our economy is doing significantly less well than Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool and we shouldn’t be. We should be one of the four big cities of this bit of the north. You can sense that when you get off the train in Leeds or Manchester, their city centres are buzzing and vibrant, there are shops and restaurants and bars and you get to Sheffield city centre and it’s all just quiet. It makes people feel sad. Many of the business leaders I’ve spoken to want to work more closely with our city. They recognise the need and the responsibility but they cant do it on their own. They need to work with the Mayor, the council, and the MP. I’ve had similar conversations with people in the third sector, who said the same thing. While most of the work I’ve done extensively has been overseas, the context is different but it’s exactly the same principle.
That wasn’t just us turning up as aid agencies and saying right, here’s us. The only way to make change is to work with the communities to pool all the resources. In the end, its about leadership.
If I’m selected as candidate – in theory, there’s two years before the election. In those two years, I’d have the luxury of having two years to get to know this constituency, like the back of my hand. I already know a lot of people, I talk to a lot of people already but there are a lot of businesses I haven’t spoken with, a lot of charities, a lot of people who are having a hard time I haven’t spoken to. There’s a lot of people who are having a great time, and who want to make Sheffield a fairer, greener and more equal place, that I haven’t spoken to. I would spend that time building a plan, convening people, doing what we can in the interim, but also, preparing for that moment that I’m elected as the MP and we’ve got more opportunities, a bigger voice, working out what I can do on day one to improve lives here in Sheffield central. I’d also be out and about campaigning in marginal seats to make sure we can get that Labour government with the biggest majority possible. On day one as an MP, the first thing I’d do would be breath a sigh of relief that we’ve got a labour government, but then the inequality, getting our economy back on track, and like Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester as a starting point, we’ve got to see a more vibrant city centre. The priority for me would come down to bringing down those health inequalities, making sure this city is getting the basics right in terms of healthcare, social care, childcare, pensioners, taking care of the most vulnerable, making sure we end the racial inequality in the city, turning around those inequalities, but then it’s also basics like we need to build more homes. We’ve got to bring our carbon emissions down and get more jobs, better jobs, and better-paid jobs. In part, we are losing too many students. We educate 70,00 young people a year here, which is amazing. We have two amazing universities and what a wonderful asset to have here in Sheffield, but a lot of them, they finish their education and want to stay here because it’s a great place but they can’t do it, because the jobs aren’t here. We need the careers for those young people to come into. Population 2022/23 coming out. The population of Leeds is up 6% in the last 10 years, and Sheffield grew 0.6% in the last ten years.
Whether it’s Manor Castle or Fulwood the needs are similar while at the same time some of the causes are different.
The longlist of candidates, like the city itself, is a very diverse one. Sheffield Central constituency is just as diverse, covering areas like Manor, Broomhill, Sharrow and Fulwood. I asked Mike how he would engage those quite different areas within the city and bring those communities together. He said, “I’ve spent time within all of those communities, very purposefully in the last year, and in the end, a lot of the needs are the same, everyone needs a decent home, everyone needs a job, everyone needs their kids educated, so while those are very different areas, in some ways the needs are the same and the complaints are the same – our kids can’t get a home, they can’t get jobs or education and apprenticeships, or the career that they want, there’s too much crime, we’re overlooked by the national government, nothing’s changed in decades. Whether it’s Manor Castle or Fulwood the needs are similar while at the same time some of the causes are different. There is sadly institutional racism, and some people just making the wrong choices, there are areas, and Manor may be one of them that has effectively just been written off by the national government as a problem that’s too hard to fix. I’m angry about those things as much as anything else.”
In light of recent controversies surrounding Government, Mike accepts that there is a trust issue facing politicians. He thinks “The way to fix that is to make myself accessible and transparent. I will of course turn up at constituency meetings, and talk to people and members, but most people in Sheffield can’t come to that so I will also do regular – at least quarterly, question times for anyone in the constituency to come to sit in a big room and ask me questions and I’ll be on radio Sheffield as often as I can. I’ll keep updating social media and the website but I don’t want to just concentrate on social media, I want to make myself available. The only way people will trust me is if they can interact with me, or at least hear me interact with someone else on the radio. I also want to bring different communities, particularly community leaders, whether that’s faith leaders or charity leaders, business leaders, or political leaders from different parts of the constituency together so we can all talk. I’d start this even as the candidate, bring in the council, and the leaders and say this is our home, we have a shared interest in making this a better to live and we have a shared responsibility to make this a better place to live. The MP has a massive opportunity to do that because there aren’t many other people – people have busy lives, there might be one group over there trying to fix this and that group over there trying to fix that, imagine what we can achieve if I bring them all together. The best MPs do that.
I’m very pleased that the longlist is so diverse. I think it reflects well on the party, and on Sheffield’s central labour party. I think it’s right that we want our politicians to be reflective of society. Even though I disagree with the new Prime Minister on almost everything politically, I think it’s right that we celebrate that we have our first non-white PM. It says a great thing about us as a country, that A; it’s happened, and B; it’s not an issue or certainly I haven’t had a conversation with anyone that has an issue with it. The decision in Sheffield central is the member’s choice to make, they will decide who their next MP is, all I can do is put myself forward and say this is who I am, this is my experience, and this will be my approach. For me, the key question is who is going to make the most difference to people’s lives and who is most able to do that and who has a plan to do that.”
Jason Holyhead 