Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for allowing me to make my maiden speech. What a privilege it is to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) and her moving story of her family overcoming racism and her personal passion for change.
I am delighted to contribute to this afternoon’s debate on our plans to introduce Great British Railways and bring trains back into public ownership. Nowhere will these benefits be felt more keenly than in my constituency of Shrewsbury, where services are thin on the ground, lacking carriages and frequent and reliable services.
Most residents and visitors to Shrewsbury would very quickly conclude that our town is a beauty spot with so much potential but cut off from the wider economic region by a lack of robust public transport. This is mirrored by our inadequate bus services, with over 5,000 routes cut since 2010. Shrewsbury is dreaming of a Sunday service or a bus after 6 pm to support our young people and our night-time economy. Public bus franchises will make a huge impact on so many lives. We also have high hopes for Midlands Connect’s plans to electrify the train route between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton to boost our capacity.
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Shrewsbury is, of course, the new name for my constituency—or should that be Shrowsbury? Apparently, pronunciation reveals which side of the river you grew up on. As it turns out, the people of Shrewsbury—and Shrowsbury—are very tolerant of both pronunciations. My constituency was known for many years as Shrewsbury and Atcham, until several villages leading up to Wenlock Edge were donated to South Shropshire under the boundary review. My predecessor, Daniel Kawczynski, is well known to this House, as he served our constituency for 19 years and was particularly focused on raising the profile and challenges of our river, through establishing and sharing the River Severn Caucus. I hope to continue this important work with my neighbouring colleagues as we tackle the shared threat of flooding and compromised water quality.
There is another, perhaps even more famous former MP for Shrewsbury. Going back a little further into history, Benjamin Disraeli was our Member of Parliament from 1841, when he earned a reputation as being both witty and able before going on twice to become Prime Minister and to decriminalise the work of trade unions. Shrewsbury has many famous sons, but none is more well known than Charles Darwin, the father of evolution. He was born and raised in Shrewsbury, attended Shrewsbury school as a boarder in the building that has since become our town library and has a statue commemorating his contribution to learning. We are delighted that his family home will finally become an international visitor attraction to celebrate his work.
Unlike Darwin, I have only lived in Shropshire for a mere 20 years, so I am grateful to have been graciously adopted by the good people of Shrewsbury to represent the county town for Shropshire. It is renowned as one of the finest medieval market towns, with regular farmers markets brimming with local producers, agricultural livestock markets and our award-winning indoor market, which goes from strength to strength with late-night events and live music, winning Britain’s favourite market no less than three times.
The River Severn famously forms a loop around the town centre, framed by our old town walls, as a backdrop to our older historic properties, stone-flagged narrow streets, Regency crescents and imposing black and white timber-framed buildings. In total, we have over 600 listed buildings, including the castle—now a museum—the art gallery, the old market hall and the famous Shrewsbury abbey. Our main shopping street, the Wyle Cop, which climbs the steep hill from the English bridge up to the town square, is reported to host more independent shops than any other street in the country, thanks to the support of the Shrewsbury business improvement district and our chambers of commerce.
There are beautiful riverside walks, cycle paths, pedestrian bridges and—the jewel in our crown—the Quarry park along the river, with Percy Thrower’s famous sunken gardens in the dingle. This is where the Royal Horticultural Society hosts its annual flower show. With such well-kept beauty and heritage charm, it is easy to see why Shrewsbury attracts so many visitors each year, boosted by our array of cultural festivals including the folk festival, the food festival and of course the Darwin festival, as well as the county show at the West Mid showground and Loopfest. We also welcome gentle, sustainable tourism—those who come to walk in the Shropshire hills, kayak down the river or take a leisurely cruise on our famous tour boat, the Sabrina. I am sure that Members listening are already planning to book their next visit, and I would be happy to oblige with a guided tour for any who make it.
We have some 30 or so smaller villages in the rural hinterland: Upton Magna in the east towards the Wrekin; Montford Bridge; Nesscliffe with its long-standing military training camp; Minsterley, Pontesbury and Bayston Hill to the south; and Shrawardine and Westbury almost on the Welsh border, in what was historically named the Marches. These rolling green hills provide our farming base and woodland natural habitat, and serve our agricultural sector, ably supported by the nearby world-leading Harper Adams University, where our farmers of the future are trained in sustainability and productivity. That is crucial, given their impact on the food and drink supply chain that flows through the county to support our local economy.
We have several large employers, including the world-leading Morris Lubricants factory dating back to 1869, Salop Leisure, Beaver Bridges and, of course, Shrewsbury Town football club, where manager David Moyes once played.
Despite the very long list of famous Shrewsbury men, I am here today as the first female MP for Shrewsbury, and not before time. I am the daughter of a coalminer whose pit was closed in 1986, and who never worked again. I was 12 years old when this affected our family and our community, and it is when my interest in politics was first ignited.
As an adult, I was fortunate to win a scholarship for my PhD in EU policy, and I worked in the European Parliament in Brussels for five years, specialising in regional investment funding to tackle inequality. While I was there, I made friends with the chirpy young woman in the next office, another northern lass who was passionate about politics—Jo Leadbeater, who later became Jo Cox. We ran the New York marathon together in 2001 with Suzy Sumner, as the Northern Lasses. We were so proud of Jo when she became an MP and how, with her usual style of Tiggerish enthusiasm and charm, she would persuade everyone towards her policy aims.
That is all the more reason why her death was so very difficult to comprehend: a senseless loss of someone so sincere and positive. Jo never shied away from standing up for what she believed in and what really mattered, however difficult or unpopular. She never said she was too tired or too busy. She just got on and fought for what was important, and always with a winning smile.
Jo inspired me to go back into politics. After realising that life is too short and precious to wait for other people to solve problems, I decided to be more like Jo. That week, I rejoined my local Labour party, and
became a town councillor and then a county councillor, and ultimately leader of Shropshire Labour group. I stood as the parliamentary candidate for the seat in 2019, and I returned this year to win and become our MP, thanks in no small measure to the support of my husband John and the patience of my children Annabel and Edward.
I conclude by saying to Jo and her sister Kim that finally the Northern Lasses are reunited in this place.