Gen Kitchen MP: 'I will work tirelessly to deliver on the promises I've made to you'

In that time, I have visited 85 events hosted by local businesses or organisations, held more than 50 hours of advice surgeries, knocked on thousands of doors and fought and won another election.

Throughout it all I have kept the pledges I made to the people of Wellingborough and Rushden at the forefront of my mind.

On potholes, I continue to keep up pressure on the local authority. I have written two open letters to the leader of the council demanding answers on its contract with their road maintenance contractor Kier, and my team and I regularly report any potholes we come across. I have also raised the state of local roads with the relevant Minister and was pleased to see the Labour Government pledge additional funding of £3.28m to North Northamptonshire to tackle the issue.

I know that healthcare is something that is important to us all and so after being elected I formed a regular roundtable session with GPs so that I can raise issues that constituents report to me and hear from the doctors how I can help them. The government’s plan to deliver millions more appointments will also cut NHS waiting lists that were allowed to balloon under the Tories.

Anti-social behaviour and knife crime has become an increasingly common problem for our local areas. One of my first acts as MP was to invite anti-knife campaigners Off The Streets to Parliament to talk about their bleed kit training. I have also convened a working group in Rushden with key local stakeholders to look at ways to tackle the issue. We will soon be consulting on a Youth Safety Strategy that we hope will be rolled out in the town.

The decline of our high streets is something that many areas have grappled with. This is a situation I am committed to improving. I have launched a town-centre taskforce to bring together local businesses, the council, police and others to agree on ways to make Wellingborough Town Centre a more inviting place for people to visit.

Under the last government we saw inflation soar, impacting the lives of families across the constituency. Labour is determined to generate growth and create an environment where people can thrive, not just survive. As the Chancellor said recently, we will know we have succeeded in our mission when people feel better off.

Change doesn’t happen overnight and at times difficult decisions will be made to achieve the goal we are working towards. But I will work tirelessly every day to ensure we reach that goal and to continue to deliver on the promises I made to the people of Wellingborough & Rushden.