As Parliament opens over autumn, this entry will mainly focus on some of my highlights from the past few months, sharing a few moments that stand out.
Celebrating You & Yours
Results days have brought anxious stomachs and overjoyed faces for thousands of young people across Chatham and Aylesford. Having been a teacher for many years, I know just how important these moments are. Whatever your outcome, well done, this is only the beginning of your journey.
On GCSE results day, I visited the MidKent College campus in Maidstone, where they had already begun enrolling students onto their programmes. Just like the Gillingham campus, the college remains a leader in vocational and hands-on education for more than 6,000 students.
Evening with Alan Johnson
On a warm Wednesday evening in July, we gathered at Gurkhas Brother in Chatham to welcome Alan Johnson, his first visit to Chatham.
For those who may not recall, Alan served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills, then Health, and finally as Home Secretary in 2009. He spoke about his life in Parliament and his latest book, Harold Wilson: Twentieth Century Man.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, good food, thoughtful discussion, and a room full of friends old and new, all linked in some way to the Labour movement in Kent.
Medway Pride
On a sunny Saturday in August, I proudly joined the crowds in Rochester for Medway Pride. The High Street parade was as unapologetically vibrant as ever, and the Castle Gardens hosted an afternoon of music and performances.
For the first time in five years, entry was ticketed, as Medway Pride CIC had to raise funds after unfortunately being unsuccessful with a grant bid. That aside, it was a wonderful day, full of colour and community, thanks to the dedication of local volunteers. Here’s to next year!
Medway Hospital Visit with Kevin Mckenna MP
Medway Maritime Hospital is used by over 400,000 of you annually and across five parliamentary boundaries, including Kevin McKenna’s, who shared this visit with.
My thoughts on the hospital are clear in advance of this visit, I said in March’s update: “The long-awaited Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on Medway Maritime Hospital confirms what we all have long known: our hospital requires improvement.”
The recent report by the independent review into culture at Medway NHS Foundation Trust only compounds the challenge ahead. On top of this, the latest NHS league tables rank Medway NHS Foundation Trust as the lowest-performing acute trust in Kent, highlighting the urgent need for improvement.
With that said, politicians, like me, cannot just sit back and watch from a distance, we’ve got to do all we can to influence their success and reduce their failures. We cannot sit back and accept that the hospital is in a really difficult position and remain in our silos and wipe our hands of responsibility. I joined leaders across Medway and Kent to make this statement too.
There are glimmers of positivity amongst a sea of disappointment, one of those is the £37.4 million of Government funding through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme which will deliver a greener future for the site.
SEND Provision (Westminster Hall debate)
My contribution to the SEN debate on Tuesday 15 July 2025.
“With 21,000 students on EHCPs, Kent stands among the worst in the country, with 13% completed within the statutory deadline, in Medway it is even worse, at 12%.
Across the county we see those stark figures, but they represent the real human lives that we see in our casework every single week, from the child who does not get to school within the statutory deadline of 90 minutes, or the child who is not given access in the classroom through the specialist teaching assistant provision that they need, to the parents who have to give up their jobs in some cases and go on to benefits to look after their children and get them into those schools.
I know that the Government inherited an appalling legacy from the previous Government, it was basically admitted that SEND provision was an absolute mess. Although I blame the Tories on Kent county council for the problem, it is not unique to any one council or to the control of any council; it is a systemic and structural problem as a result of demand not having been met over many years.”
Local Government Reorganisation (again)
Once upon a time, Kent’s local government reorganisation plans seemed to be heading towards agreement. That’s no longer the case.
Kent County Council is preparing a single, county-wide unitary proposal, while Medway Council continues to back a four-unitary model: North, East, Mid, and West. Both of these submissions will go to ministers separately from the two “official” options being assessed by KPMG, a three-unitary plan (3A) and a four-unitary shuffle (4B).
Full proposals must be with ministers by 28 November 2025, and whichever plan is approved could see new councils running services from April 2028.
London Stock Exchange
As summer drew to a close and Parliament was recalled, I had the privilege of taking part in an event at the London Stock Exchange: “Fuelling Innovation in the UK – a View from Westminster.”
It was a slightly different Friday, as I found myself in a room full of UK founders, start-up leaders, investors, and policymakers, all focused on turning ambitious ideas into reality to turbocharge growth. Alongside Blake Stephenson MP, I spoke about the Alternative Investment Market and how it can empower investors to back high-growth ventures, supporting UK businesses to scale and innovate.
We also “closed the market,” a symbolic moment marking the end of the trading day, much like the bell that signals the start of the markets each morning.
Lastly
If you need support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and my team using the contact details below. I also welcome any success stories, it’s just as important for me to know what’s working as it is to understand what isn’t, so that we can share best practices across the constituency.
📧 [email protected] 📱01634 816 002
