Tom is a local comprehensive schooled NHS worker from Darlington.

Full statement

He said:

“As a former Test and Trace worker and long time member of the Labour Party and GMB Trade Union, I was inspired by how ordinary people came together during the COVID pandemic to keep each other safe. Residents here missed birthdays, Christmases, and funerals, to stop the spread and were rightly appalled when it was revealed that the top levels of the government were breaking their own rules. It was this experience that inspired me to put myself forward for election this year: I want to see that sense of responsibility and patriotic duty return to government.

I am hugely optimistic about what can be achieved in this General Election. Everything is up for grabs and I am offering a real, credible choice for voters here. I am running a positive campaign for change, on issues such as protecting our environment by cracking down on sewage dumping in the Swale, standing up for small and high street businesses, and improving our NHS services to reduce waiting times.

I know that Conservative voters feel let down. The government came to office promising to cut crime, protect our environment, support home ownership, remove red tape, and grow our economy, instead crime has risen and criminals are being let out early, our rivers are being polluted and Net Zero is being scrapped, our housing crisis is getting worse, and red tape is choking our economic growth more than ever.

I will be an MP that stands up for your values in Westminster and ensures you are heard by the next Labour government. Send a message to the Conservatives on 4th July, and vote Labour.”