'Every young person deserves a fair start'

THOSE who know me know that I never set out to become an MP. After studying at Keele University, I began working at one of our local Sure Start centres because I wanted to do my bit to give our children the best start in life.

- David Williams - MP for Stoke-on-Trent North

It was there that I first saw, up close, the difference a Labour government could make. I met mums who had been let down by the state for years; with Labour, they were finally being offered a way forward, not just a way out.

That experience shaped me. From there, I joined our local YMCA. There, I helped to set up training schemes for people who'd been written off by many.

I secured funding to reopen youth clubs shut under Conservative austerity.

I also supported young people into safe, affordable housing, because I know that without the secure foundation of a roof over your head, people cannot fulfil their potential. Youth work wasn’t my job; it was my cause.

But as the years passed, that cause became harder to pursue. Under a Conservative government, we saw youth services in Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove cut by 97%.

Our Sure Start Centres were hollowed out. Vital services disappeared. And with them, so did opportunity.