'If you want change you have to vote for it' - the Labour candidate hoping to turn Kettering red

She’s spent most of her life being represented by a Conservative MP locally, and half of it by a Conservative government in Westminster.

Now, at the age of 26, the Geddington woman is preparing to try and unseat Philip Hollobone, the man who took over from Labour’s Phil Sawford in 2005, at the general election on July 4.

Ms Wrighting has faced comments about her age on social media – but she says it is not a barrier to representing the area she loves.

She told the Northants Telegraph: “Age doesn’t measure experience. I have grown up in Kettering with a single parent and saw the benefits that a Labour government gave me.

"I didn’t grow up with a lot of money, I’ve worked full-time, I’ve felt that I was unable to buy a house, I’ve felt unable to start a family, I’ve felt that there’s going to be a climate crisis in my lifetime, I know what it’s like to live in a house that is damp or where you’re worried about no-fault evictions.

"These are real world experiences that are almost unique to my age group and I will bring value in Parliament.”

Ms Wrighting is the daughter of Cindy Wrighting, chief executive officer of youth charity Youth Works, and attended Bishop Stopford School before taking a year out after mental health struggles.

She worked at Topshop where she fell in love with the retail industry and, after moving to Montsaye Academy and then to university, gained a job at online fashion retailer Asos, where she was a buyer until quitting to focus on campaigning to be Kettering’s next MP.

Ms Wrighting got involved with Labour in 2020 and was chair of the Westminster North constituency Labour Party, where she was during and just after graduating from university.

Now she’s back in Kettering and said she wants to help change the constituency after 14 years of a Conservative government.

She said: “I feel like we’ve seen austerity in Kettering in front of our eyes, from our public services to the town centres.

"Knowing that there’s that chance here for that fresh start is what has made me want to be the person to run for Parliament for Kettering and hopefully be the person that can deliver that change that we so need here.”

A key theme of local campaigning from both Labour and the Conservatives is the much-needed rebuild of Kettering General Hospital.

The Conservatives argue that a line in Labour’s manifesto suggests the rebuild will be shelved, something which was branded ‘a load of rubbish’ by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Ms Wrighting accused her political rival Mr Hollobone of ‘scaremongering’ and said she has already spoken to shadow health secretary Wes Streeting’s team, who have ‘told her the money is there’ for it.

She said: “One of my top priorities from very early on is getting that money into Kettering General Hospital where it needs to be, to help the people it needs to help most.

"I think people think that this rebuild has just not happened because they get used to being promised things and they don’t ever see them come into fruition.”

Another of the Labour hopeful’s urgent pledges is tackling the cost of living crisis. Ms Wrighting said that on the campaign trail she met a woman on the Grange estate who simply sat in the cold last winter because she couldn’t afford to turn her heating on.

She said: “We need to put more money back in people’s pockets and that comes with lowering energy bills and switching on Great British Energy, but also by having a stable economy.”

Ms Wrighting, who could become Kettering’s first female MP, said she wants to see crime rates lowered and thinks a community policing hub is needed in Kettering itself.

She’s also pledged to help rejuvenate town centres by supporting local businesses to take on empty units and through reformed business rates. She also said she would lobby a Labour government to support any community bid to move into the old Kettering M&S unit.

The Labour candidate, who has been helped by former Corby MP Andy Sawford, has also promised to hold North Northamptonshire Council to account over pothole problems if she is elected. She said it’s something that comes up every canvassing session and that Desborough’s roads are awful – adding that she’s buckled a wheel on her car and had to have tyres replaced twice after hitting road craters.

She also said she understands why the controversial Kettering Energy Park proposal is a concern for residents and that she wants to voice their fears.

Labour have thrown the kitchen sink at Kettering recently, with visits by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, deputy leader Angela Rayner and leader Sir Keir Starmer in consecutive weeks.

Bookmakers currently have Ms Wrighting as favourite to win, despite Mr Hollobone’s majority of almost 17,000. Backers of the Green Party and Reform have been vocal about alternative options – but Ms Wrighting believes Kettering will wake up with either a Conservative or Labour MP on the morning of July 5.

She said: “We know that we have to fight for every vote in Kettering. There’s no complacency here. You’ve seen the amount of resources that have been given to Kettering and that’s because we know it will be tight and we know that every vote matters.

"If you want change you have to vote for it and in Kettering you have to vote Labour.”

Standing in the Kettering constituency at the General Election on July 4 are: Rosie Wrighting (Labour), Philip Hollobone (Conservative), Crispian Besley (Reform), Emily Fedorowycz (Green), Sarah Ryan (Liberal Democrats), Jim Hakewill (Indepedent), Jehad Aburamadan (Alliance for Democracy and Freedom) and Matthew Murphy (Social Democratic Party).