As my first ever Labour conference experience draws to a close I will look back on it as an enormous success.I leave Manchester with new skills and new friends but most importantly, an even bigger determination to stand with my parliamentary candidate Jon Wheale and take back our Burton and Uttoxeter seat from the Tories at the next general election.
Now is the time for Jon and I to take Ed Miliband’s message of ‘One Nation’ to the people in the constituency.
For those who do not know the constituency, which is officially known as ‘Burton’, it is a blend of urban, semi-urban and rural areas with a very diverse electorate.
That’s what makes it such an interesting place to live but at the same time makes it such an intriguing marginal at the next general election. This is why we should be looking to take it back in 2015.
So how will we take the message of ‘One Nation’ to the people of Burton and Uttoxeter?
Despite coming under the same parliamentary boundaries and being served by the same local authority, a clear division lies between the two towns. To be ‘One Nation’ this needs to be addressed.
I can recall a time when I was on the doorstep for a town council by-election in Uttoxeter last year. Rightly or wrongly, there was a strong feeling of resentment towards Burton; a view that Burton got the lion’s share.
These differences of opinion have also existed between the two towns’ local Labour groups, almost acting as separate entities at times, even though they come under the same CLP.
Under Ed’s vision of ‘One Nation’, I do not want a Uttoxeter Labour party that appears to act independently of Burton Labour party. I want a Burton and Uttoxeter Labour party fighting together to help those most under attack from the Tory-led government.
To simplify ‘One Nation’, I would like to see a unified constituency party working to overcome the 6000-plus majority that our Tory MP currently holds in order to win back the seat for Labour.
The area is also one of great diversity with people of all different social, ethnic and cultural backgrounds make Burton and Uttoxeter. Sometimes this can cause division, but under ‘One Nation’, we must come together and celebrate these differences making it an even better place to live.
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Andrew Bettridge is a journalism graduate and tweets @AndyBettridge1