By rejecting division and decline, we are building a better Portsmouth and a Britain built for all

2026 is the year Britain turns a corner. And in Portsmouth we’re going to do it together.  

When the people of Portsmouth South put their trust in me again at the last General Election, I promised to help deliver the change our country had been crying out for. 

The fair choices the Labour Government has made will mean real change for millions of people this year – including here in Portsmouth and across the region. And over time, even more people will feel the benefit. 

We’re taking action to cut the cost of living, we’re cutting waiting lists, getting more police on our streets, taking money off people’s energy bills, boosting the minimum wage and lifting over half a million children out of poverty.  

That’s not all we’ve done since the General Election but it shows the Labour choices we’ve made to start turning our country around. Choices Reform, the Tories and the other opposition parties just wouldn’t make. 

This isn’t “mission accomplished” though. I know people are frustrated at the pace of change – and that not enough people are feeling it fast enough. But 14 years of decline can’t be turned around overnight. Renewing our country is not something that can happen in a matter of months.  

From the global financial crisis, through Brexit, the pandemic, and war in Europe, our country has faced huge challenges in recent years. But I, and our Government, are determined to turn things around. Not by managing decline, but by putting our country back on a stable footing. 

And locally over the past year, I’ve been campaigning to improve access to GP services and NHS dentistry, making our streets safer, delivering a better future for our city’s young people and ensuring investment comes to our community and its economy. And this year, I’ll be laser-focused on cutting the cost of living for Portsmouth people and working with others to deliver the change locally our city and country voted for.  

Together, we are getting Britain back on track. But we can only give our country the renewal it needs if we come together to reject the division and decline peddled by Reform, the Tories, the Greens, and the others and move forwards with a spring in our step to build a better Portsmouth and to build a Britain built for all.