I grew up in a mining town in a council house during the 80s and I witnessed first-hand the impact that politics had on my family, our friends and my community. I never thought things would get that bad again - yet here we are.
My life experience, as a volunteer, my working life as a Housing Officer and as a Trade Unionist make me want to ensure that workers and communities have access to well-paid and well-funded work and public services. I want to tackle the inequalities that exist across our society and give voice to the people who have none.
I am enthusiastic about eradicating the scourge of poverty across Scotland. We are a rich country, and it is shameful that the underfunding of healthcare, social care, housing and the lack of essential food and heating is a reality in our society today.
We must listen to the constituents, businesses, workers and community groups to make sure that they know we are on their side. This must be underpinned by a thriving economy. By assuring our constituents that we are different from the other political parties and that we are part of the the community, and not remote from it, we can rebuild their trust.
We need candidates that the public can relate to, who have similar lived experiences and that reflect the diversity of the constituency that they seek to represent. I am the candidate that is the authentic local voice.
I feel that people had lost hope in Westminster because here in Scotland we did not elect a Tory government and the SNP were perceived to offer an 'alternative'. It is our task to make sure we articulate why we deserve their vote, why we are the change that is needed and, critically, to evidence this through our actions.
With the current Labour leadership in Westminster and in Scotland, coupled with the right candidates, we can secure a Labour victory once more.
Having been a Labour Party member for 25 years and as a Trade Unionist I believe in the strength of collective struggle and internationalism.
Our movement is at its best when we look outwards, sharing our wealth and power makes us stronger. This should not end at borders.
I voted to remain in Europe as did the constituency I hope to represent. I also voted no in the independence referendum because I do not want Scotland’s success to end at the border.
Safety, wealth, food and shelter should be available to everyone, and this should not be dependent on where we are born or how wealthy our family are. No one can predict what will happen in their lives, with changes in climate and wars, no one ever knows with any certainty that they will not be a refugee one day as we are all faced with these growing threats, and therefore we should not take for granted the privileges we experience each day. Holding out our hand to help our brothers and sisters across the world is just and help should be available to everyone when they are in need.
Supporting foreign aid and having freedom to work and travel across the world should be a right not a privilege. The false differences between humans that both the SNP and the Tories pedal only cause division and exclusion, whether this be across the UK, Europe or the world.
As a trade unionist I recognise the rights that we have secured for workers across Europe and the UK including the right to holidays and rest time between shifts, in equality law, protecting women and children and in driving up standard in Health and Safety to name just a few.
Since Brexit we have seen the problems in trade across borders in Ireland as well as the limiting of workers in the creative industries to tour. Even more worryingly we see the problems that we have with food shortages and access to essential goods and services being limited with businesses having to manage huge staff and skill shortages. We have disastrous short falls of labour across health and care staff and these gaps are causing premature and unnecessary deaths.
Working with Europe has also secured peace across Europe since the second world war and bringing people and countries closer together will continue to secure peace across the UK and Europe.
I love Leith and Edinburgh and the people who live here. There is no other part of the city that has the sense of common pride and community like we do. We represent a diverse and welcoming community. We need look no further than Leith to evidence this as we currently have a cruise ship hosting many refugees from Ukraine war.