Despite today's difficulties, I am hopeful and determined.

Full statement

Hopeful about the prosperous, greener future we can build. Determined to help deliver it.



I've devoted my life to making families better off. That's why I became an Economist, taught in schools, and was a trade union rep.



I became an Economist so I could make families more prosperous. I learnt my trade in the Treasury and gained a PhD. In my current day job at a think tank, I work on policies that will ensure every person in this country has enough money to thrive, public services they can rely on, and a Green New Deal that will get us to Net Zero with good jobs across the country.



I also spent two years working to end poverty inside the Somaliland government, one of the poorest and most fragile nations on earth. A nation where climate change is already leading to devastating droughts and starvation. I co-wrote their National Development Plan, economic policy, and budgets to help put them on the path to prosperity.



I've also taught children in disadvantaged schools. That doubled the chances of those kids getting into good universities. And as a trade union rep, I organised my members and stopped a 33% pay cut for my low-paid colleagues.



Service and hard work can create a better future. Those are the British values my family taught me. My grandfather served in the war, my parents started a business. Those are the values that I've lived my life by.



Those values are why I'm working so hard to win this election. To serve the people of Loughborough, Shepshed, and the Villages. To work tirelessly for a better, greener future.



Let's build that better, greener future together.