Who I am and what I believe
It was an honour to be elected as the MP for Bristol South in 2015. I promised to be a straight talking, hardworking representative for local people, fighting for the issues that matter to them and taking their voice to Parliament.
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It is humbling to have been re-elected three times since, and it is now a privilege to be continuing that service as part of a Labour government.
I want a fairer society, where each of us has equal opportunity to fulfil our potential, supported by each other and by a democratic, accountable, and responsive state.
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Bristol South is one of the most economically deprived constituencies in the country. I want to use my experience, my skills, and my political passion to fight for the fairer society I want to see for myself and my family, and for families across Bristol South.
My parents came to Britain from Ireland in the 1950s, working on building sites and in bars. Growing up I witnessed firsthand the uncertainty of insecure jobs, temporary housing, domestic violence, and addiction. I was fortunate to have the support of great teachers and the sanctuary of a council house. I grew to understand that governments have a choice - to support the vulnerable and lowest paid, or to widen inequality by giving tax cuts to the well off. The support my family received from the last Labour government, when my children were young, makes me determined to bring that back for struggling families. My three children have now grown to be amazing adults to whom I remain a very proud mum.
Before becoming an MP, I worked in the NHS as a manager, most recently for the NHS Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group. I saw the power of politics to improve the system, working under the last Labour government as the health service delivered the shortest waiting times and highest patient satisfaction in history. The NHS is my passion, and I am proud to be Labour's Health Minister.
I first joined the Labour Party in 1985. There was still apartheid in South Africa, barbed wire and soldiers on a border across Ireland, long hospital waiting lists, and more than three million unemployed. It took too long for Labour to win back power and right many of those wrongs. When we did, a transformative decade followed, with investment in schools and hospitals, economic growth, the minimum wage, peace in Ireland and a raft of policies delivering a fairer country, culminating in the Equality Act in 2010.
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But since then, five successive Conservative Prime Ministers have all but dismantled Labour's achievement. It is now time for this Labour government, under Keir Starmer’s leadership, to get Britain's future back.
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Repairing broken Britain will not be easy and it will take time, but I am up for the challenge. I hope that you are too.
Karin
