Seven of Labour's newest MPs look back on a ‘relentless' first year

The Guardian

3 days ago

Labour's first year back in power has been marked by high stakes and harsh realities.
Despite ambitious promises, the party has struggled to maintain the support of voters – reflected in low poll numbers and a near defeat on its big welfare legislation.
For new MPs the challenge has been to push urgent reforms while navigating Westminster's unforgiving terrain.
Seven rising Labour voices speak about the year that has tested them all.
For Witherden, the MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, Fahnbulleh, the MP for Camberwell and Peckham and Sandher, the MP for Loughborough, Labour's first year has been a lesson in managing urgent reform against the weight of political constraints. All talk about the urgency to drive radical reforms – and the costs of falling short.
Witherden's first day in parliament was also the day he lost his mother. 'The serjeant at arms came in and said I needed to get on a train straight back to north-east Wales. I was able to be with my mum and hold her hand when she died just before midnight.'
He calls the experience disorienting and says he struggled to find his footing. But a year on, he is unrepentant about voting against the government's welfare plans.
'My feeling was we'd got it wrong. I thought we did need to make a stand on that. You risk undermining your own side – but ultimately, it led to a sound decision.'
Witherden argues Labour has been bold on workers' rights and renationalisation but warns the party should not retreat. 'Labour is best when it is bold.'
He sums up the year as 'a great honour and a privilege to represent the area where you come from'.
Fahnbulleh, as a government minister, opts for a measured tone, sharing challenges without criticising the government. She describes the past year in one word: 'Pace. When you look at the policies, the interventions, the legislation, it's a ridiculous amount in one year – particularly when you think about the inertia of government for the last five.'
She accepts it hasn't all landed. 'We've got to do more on bread-and-butter cost of living issues. That's what people will judge us by.' She is proud of the recent extension of the warm homes discount, a policy she has long championed. 'That intervention will touch 6m households and countless lives.' But she says the government is still united. 'The stakes are too high for us not to rally. We have a collective duty to make this count.'
Sandher calls the year 'determined' and describes this period as an 'angrier time in politics. People are literally turning away from us in Westminster and say democracy feels like it isn't working.' He says he is proudest of helping to organise Labour support for the assisted dying legislation.
But for him, the real challenge is to balance stability with a bigger vision. 'Ideas are what move people to change the country. Until you get here, you don't realise how important ideology really is.'
For Blake, the MP for Cities of London and Westminster, and Toale, the MP for Bournemouth West, Labour's first year has been a test of discipline and expectations. Both MPs argue the government has made progress but acknowledge the limits of what voters will tolerate, and how proving credibility after episodes like the welfare vote remains the harder part.
Blake does not hide the pressure of a year in government. '[Wednesday] was quite hard. We just saw the scale of what we're trying to do and how visible we all are. The tone of PMQs, seeing that pressure … that was quite hard.'
She rejects the idea that Labour is simply managing decline. 'I disagree. I think there are really significant structural changes happening.' Housing, she argues, is the clearest example.
'If you look at the underinvestment in social housing over the last 14 years and contrast it with the government's proposals, that's a clear example of investing in the future.' Blake points to reforms to renters' rights as proof the shift is real, and cites the bill passing the Commons as a 'great day'.
She also argues business remains onside. 'There is that trust there because of fiscal discipline and the clear objective to have regulation which supports economic growth.' Blake sums up the year as a 'whirlwind'.
Toale is blunt about the gap between progress and perception. 'No, we haven't restored trust in politics. You can't expect that we'll solve all the issues we have in one year.' She highlights tackling knife crime as a high point. But she says it has been confronting to be seen as part of the system she hoped to improve.
'I've gone from being Jess to being 'a politician'. And with that comes a whole lot of assumptions people make about me.' Toale adds that misinformation online has made it harder to convince and speak to voters. 'You can't have a good debate about the challenges we face in 140 characters on X. It's very difficult to turn around a narrative once it's started.'
But she argues the government has made meaningful changes – and says the priority now is to prove it. 'We're on the way,' she says describing the past 12 months as 'a year of planting seeds'.
For Anderson, MP for Buckingham and Bletchley, and Asato, MP for Lowestoft, the first year in government has been about turning promises into results, and avoiding the drift that has cost Labour trust. Anderson is clear the stakes are high if voters don't see results. Asato says the progress is already visible.
Asato dismisses any suggestion the government has been too timid. 'I would dispute that we're not bold,' she says.
'We have to cut through all the planning delays to bring 1.5m homes. We've invested in the NHS and have the most ambitious pledge of any other country in the world to halve violence against women and girls. You cannot say that's not bold – we're making that difference.'
Despite the workload, she says the sense of purpose outweighs the strain. 'There are days where you think: 'Gosh, this is quite a lot.' But there's never been a day where I have not looked around and felt the deep honour of service.' Her word for the year: 'Progress.'
Anderson is unusually frank about the risks. 'I think if people don't think they're better off, their public services haven't really improved – I mean the NHS – and that we haven't really cracked the small boats issue, there's a healthy chance that they will roll the dice again.'
Despite that, he says ambition matters: 'I think there's no point being a member of parliament, being in government, if you're not really ambitious about what you want to change.' He sums up his year as 'relentless'.