Emma Lewell MP: I was elected as an MP to seek your advancement – not mine
I was not in Parliament on Monday this week. Watching the Prime Minister’s resignation speech later that night, I had mixed feelings. It was an inevitable outcome, but also quite sad. Such a strong Labour win in 2024 should never have ended this way.
But this isn't all on Keir. No Prime Minister acts in isolation, so it's disappointing to hear people who backed and robustly defended some of the policy errors that caused so much upset now admitting that they had reservations about those very policies.
Those of us who honestly expressed our serious concerns about such policies were threatened with losing or did lose the whip. But we persisted – because we knew it was wrong. Politics is about having the courage to do what is right by those who elected you, no matter the consequences for your own position.
I sincerely hope the PM and his family are OK. At the end of the day, we are all human beings. Politics can be utterly ruthless, but it shouldn't exclude humanity and empathy.
As I always say, politics is about trust. Once you lose public trust it is very hard to gain it back. It is a lesson for any new PM and the new Cabinet, to not go back on your word, to not let the loudest and most forceful voices in Westminster set the agenda, and to not ignore your MPs, who are being honest and open about how their constituents and voters are feeling regarding policies.
Both before and after the resignation announcement, the speculative scrambling for ‘top jobs’ has been relentless. I am sorry that the country is now having to endure daily running commentaries of who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’. I find it the absolute worst of Westminster politics. The public sees it also; it damages our integrity and does little to restore that trust we have lost.
As the next chapter unfolds, I will continue to focus on representing South Shields – the best place and the very best of people.
I was elected to seek your advancement – not mine.