News / Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer joins campaign trail ahead of Kingswood by-election
“I’ve been taught in this classroom,” confirms Damien Egan as he enters the room at Hanham Woods Academy on Thursday morning.
“Cool,” comes the reply from one of the year seven pupils sitting at their desks, inside the school building on Memorial Road in Hanham.
Labour’s parliamentary candidate is closely followed by party leader Keir Starmer, who is joining on a fleeting visit to the Kingswood constituency, where Labour hopes to overturn an 11,000 Tory majority in the by-election in two weeks.
is needed now More than ever
The two politicians first field questions from the year seven class. Egan recounts his journey from the very school he is standing in to teenage Labour campaigner to politician – he stood down from his role as mayor of Lewisham to run in Kingswood.
Addressing the Labour leader, one pupil asked: “Are you friends with Rishi Sunak?”
To which Starmer gives a diplomatic reply, saying: “We lead different parties and we are against each other as we go into an election this year so we spend a lot of time arguing.
“He’s a perfectly decent man. I’ve spoken to him behind the scenes.”
The cost of living crisis, climate change, mental health in young people and safety are some of the key issues brought up by a group of students waiting in the library to meet Starmer and Egan.
The cost of living crisis, climate change, mental health in young people and safety are some of the key issues brought up by students
The former Lewisham mayor speaks about how he struggled growing up and how he wants better for Kingswood.
“I remember growing up in Kingswood how things were, so when I’m knocking on people’s doors, talking to hundreds of people, it’s really hard for me because we are seeing how people are struggling; families have got less money, they are getting into debt, they are paying more taxes and yet they are telling me they are finding it really hard to get a dentist, and they can’t get to a doctor. Safety comes up a lot,” says Egan.
“My job is to make sure that voice and the experience from our area is being heard and that people in Westminster understand the challenges we are up against.”
Asked why people should vote Labour, Starmer says: “The country desperately needs change. There’s a very strong feeling across the country that nothing is really working. Whether it’s the health service, the economy, housing.
“The government has been in for 14 years now and we’re in the mess we’re in because of the government.
“We want the chance to come in to make sure you have the jobs that you need to go to, that living standards go up, the health service works better, that we bring the country not just back to its feet but take it forward.”
Following the devastating murder of two boys, Mason Rist and Max Dixon, in Knowle West on Saturday, Starmer says his heart goes out to the families affected.
“We have a real problem with this government, knife crime has gone up 77 per cent since 2015, so the government has clearly lost control,” says Starmer, adding that we have to take the issue more seriously.
“What I would do is three things. Firstly, ban the online sale of knives like zombie knives. That can be done very quickly, very easily. The government has announced that it’s going to do it 17 times, but still hasn’t done it.
“The second thing I would do is make sure we have a young futures programme, which would, with other experts and support agencies, reach some of the young people who are getting drawn into knife crime and take them back out of that, before they get involved.
“The third thing is, for those who do carry knives, be absolutely clear that if you carry the knife, you carry the consequences. Because at the moment, the sanctions available aren’t being used consistently or in some cases not really at all. We’ve got a plan to deal with this, but we cannot go on with these tragic stories.”
Keir Starmer joins Damien Egan on the campaign trail at his old school, Hanham Woods Academy
The Kingswood by-election, taking place on Thursday, February 15, was triggered by the sudden resignation of Tory Chris Skidmore and will cost an estimated £250,000. The constituency as it stands will be abolished at the upcoming general election this year and is set to be divided into two new constituencies, Bristol North East constituency and Somerset North East & Hanham, in what is currently Tory Jacob Rees Mogg’s constituency.
Asked if he thinks the by-election is a good use of public money, Starmer firmly deflects the blame onto the Conservatives and their policies – in this case the issuing of new oil and gas licences – that forced the sitting MP to resign.
It’s almost exactly a month since Starmer came to the National Composite Centre in South Gloucestershire to deliver a new year speech, where he was met with pro-Palestine protesters who confronted the Labour leader.
On Thursday morning, it’s a quieter exit as the Labour leader heads back to London, leaving his parliamentary hopeful to continue on the campaign trail.
Egan will stand against Andrew Brown (Lib Dem), Lorraine Francis (Green), Rupert Lowe (Reform) and Sam Bromiley (Conservative).
All photos: Ellie Pipe
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