The Progress session on reconnecting with communities on Monday evening was cracking. I learned a lot from colleagues like Margaret Hodge on what it takes to see off threats like the British National party which she faced in Barking and on good ways to point out the vacuous opportunism of the United Kingdom Independence party.

In turn, I offered up a vignette on how our Labour party in Blaenau Gwent turned things around after sobering election defeats on our patch.

It did not matter that I was a local boy from just down the road. Labour were seen to have lost the trust. So it was up to me to regain that trust, one doorstep at a time.

The thing you learn pounding the pavements for two and a half years is that truly listening to voters still matters in a world where focus groups and reams of data rule. We listened, and we are future focused. Every contact – a world away from the 30 second hi-and-bye – turned the conversation to what and where next instead of dwelling on past problems. By listening and proving that we cared again, we were able to hold the incumbent member of parliament to account on his poor track record of local campaigning in parliament.

Support drained away for him as our team swelled and the public got behind local campaigns sprouting all over the papers, social media and, in the great Welsh oral tradition, over the garden gate or at the kitchen door.

I say this now as an incumbent MP with a strong majority because although the 2015 campaign will be fought on different grounds, the lessons of Blaenau Gwent still ring true. The goalposts have changed in a post-austerity world. The Tories have smashed apart the institutions of our core voters and threaten more cuts on the way. Yet we cannot be complacent and assume our heartlands will continue to wear their red with pride.

There is a lot to shout about on the doorsteps, problems that Labour are promising to tackle. The cost of living, tax rates and minimum wages, free childcare – all issues that Labour have solutions for despite the public purse strings being tighter than ever.

People want politics and politicians to be for them. We can not assume by simply turning up as a Labour candidate or MP that they feel that connection. We need to prove to them at every election and in the years between that we are their servants and ultimately we will fight for them, not for us.

For those already with a seat to defend, it means showing you made good on your promises. I have spoken hundreds of times in parliament and made sure to bring Blaenau Gwent onto the national stage. I have fought for jobs, transport links and public health. I held the government to account through the PAC, and championed older people hit by care home abuse in South Wales.

For candidates new and old, it means truly listening. It means doing those street surgeries, making sure talking to voters is a dialogue where we take on board people’s worries while championing what we can do. If we are not taking votes for granted, then we should treat voters in the same way and give them the respect they deserve.

I certainly will not be assuming that the hard work of 2010 has returned Blaenau Gwent to its rightful place in the Labour order. There is no rightful place. We should be energised by the chance to connect with a thriving, changing voter base that will lend its vote to those who will fight for them – and that is what we can be.

Like many, I am knocking on doors way in advance of 2015. There is still a long way to go.

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Nick Smith MP is the member of parliament for Blaenau Gwent. He tweets @BlaenauGwentMP

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Photo: Nick Smith