My record

• I’ve always stood up for our community in Parliament. I’ve gone head-to-head with Michael Gove over devastating cuts to our council, which have taken £100 million a year from our city. I’ve pressed for more funding for Nottingham and against unelected government-appointed bureaucrats cutting our services.
  
  
• I’ve handled over 13,000 pieces of casework and held fortnightly surgeries, supporting constituents with issues from housing to benefits to visas. I’ve managed to reunite families, got claimants thousands of pounds they were owed by the DWP, and helped prevent people becoming homeless.
  
  
• In response to the cost of living crisis, I campaigned for more support for households paid for by a windfall tax on the excess profits of energy companies, some of which the government eventually adopted. I’ve fought for a rent freeze and a ban on evictions. Working with trade unions, I’ve advocated for the minimum wage to be raised to £15 an hour, highlighting particularly low incomes in Nottingham.
  
  
• I was one of the first MPs to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and I have voted for the government to call for one at every opportunity. I have repeatedly spoken out in Parliament, calling for the lifting of the siege, the release of hostages, an end to arms sales to Israel and the recognition of a Palestinian state. In 2022, I went with a delegation of Labour MPs to Palestine and met with the family of murdered journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, then advocated for justice for her and other victims of oppression by the Israeli government.
  
  
• I tabled a Bill to ensure that climate and sustainability education is embedded across the curriculum, which I worked on with the school student-led group Teach the Future. I’m proud that the Bill has now been adopted into Labour’s policy. I’ve also co-sponsored landmark environmental legislation: the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill and the Green New Deal Bill, and I sat on the Environmental Audit Committee, holding the government to account for their environmental performance.
  
  
• I’ve advocated for policies that would bring down bills and protect the climate at once, such as investing in cheap, publicly owned renewables and insulating millions of homes. I tabled an amendment to the Energy Bill to make the government assess the potential benefits of providing long-term funding to local councils for retrofitting schemes.
  
  
• I sat on the Levelling Up Committee, advocating for more council housing, stronger renters’ rights and rent controls in the private rented sector. I tabled an amendment to the Renters Reform Bill, seeking to strengthen the rights of disabled renters.

• During the first wave of Covid-19, I returned to part-time care work and donated my wages to the Robin Hood Fund. I spoke out about the PPE shortages putting care workers in danger. I’ve campaigned for Statutory Sick Pay to be paid at least in line with the Real Living Wage and to be expanded to cover all workers.
  
  
• I’ve opposed underfunding of the NHS and encroaching privatisation, standing with NHS workers striking for decent pay and conditions. I have met regularly with the NHS locally, passing on constituents’ concerns and highlighting issues, such as long A&E waits, in Parliament.
  
  
• I’ve championed the creation of a National Care Service, publicly owned and run, and free at the point of use, modeled on the NHS. I’ve pressed the government to give care workers a pay rise to £15 an hour.
  
  
• I’ve spoken out against Tory attacks on benefit claimants and campaigned for a welfare system that provides a real safety net, rather than punishing disabled people. I’ve called for an inquiry into DWP-related deaths, such as those of my constituent Phillipa Day and Nottingham resident Errol Graham.

• I have repeatedly raised the high levels of child poverty in Nottingham East in Parliament, calling for reforms to the benefits system, such as the abolition of the two-child limit, and the need for a real living wage.
  
  
• Following last year’s tragic attacks, which killed three Nottingham residents and injured three more, I called for a public inquiry into possible missed opportunities to prevent these crimes.
  
  
• I’ve fought for families affected by the maternity scandal at Nottingham University Hospital. After succeeding in securing an independent inquiry, I have met regularly with its Chair, Donna Ockenden, and with the NUH leadership, to pass on feedback from constituents and push for improvements.

• I’ve criticised cuts to school budgets in Nottingham East and supported calls for better pay and support for teachers and other school staff. I’ve campaigned for additional government funding to fix the crisis in SEND provision

• During the pandemic, I supported local businesses in applying for and receiving financial support from the government. I asked questions and wrote to ministers about specific issues affecting certain sectors, such as the hospitality industry and the arts, and pushed for more support.
  
  
• I’ve listened to diaspora communities in Nottingham East and stood up for human rights around the world. I tabled a motion in support of women protesting in Iran, spoke out against political persecution in Hong Kong, and fought for self-determination for Kashmir. I was one of the first MPs to call for visa restrictions on those fleeing Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to be lifted, and have continued to support the Ukrainian resistance.
  
  
• I’ve advocated for safe routes for refugees; met with residents of the Bibby Stockholm barge to discuss inhumane conditions in asylum accommodation and campaigned against the cruel and unworkable Rwanda plan.
  
  
• I campaigned against violence against women and girls, marching with Reclaim the Night; wrote to the Home Secretary calling for a strategy on women’s safety and met with local venues to discuss spiking prevention. During Prime Minister’s Questions, I raised the shamefully low rate of rape convictions and long waiting times for court cases to be heard, forcing many survivors to go through a years-long ordeal.

• I’ve spoken out against attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and invited young trans people to Parliament to speak to MPs about the challenges they face, such as long waiting lists for healthcare and soaring hate crime. When the government u-turned on its promise to ban conversion therapy, I tabled an amendment seeking to ensure that all LGBTQ+ people are protected. For my work on LGBTQ+ rights, I was awarded Pink News’ 2020 Politician of the Year award and, in 2023, Diva Magazine’s Unsung Hero of the Year award and Gay Times’ Future Fighter award.

• I used my own experience of mental ill-health to advocate for better support for others. I’ve campaigned for more funding to bring waiting lists down, additional financial support for those who need to take time out of work, and a particular focus on tackling the crisis in child and adolescent mental health services.

• I’ve stood up for democratic rights, opposing the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill, the Public Order Bill, and the Minimum Service Levels Bill, which further restrict the right to strike and the right to protest. I opposed the introduction of Voter ID, and challenged the government on the more limited forms of acceptable ID available to young people.