From Campaigns to Conference:
With Parliament in recess for the conference season it was Labour’s turn to head over to Brighton for our conference.
The week started with an unexpected phone call asking if I would like to join the Shadow Justice team. I was honoured to accept the invitation and to come on board the team headed by Lord Charlie Falconer, the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice. I am so pleased to join such talented and dedicated politicians – Andy Slaughter, Jenny Chapman, Wayne David, Catherine McKinnon and Karl Turner as well as Lord Willy Bach and Lord Jeremy Beecham. The whole team have been very welcoming and I hope to do my best for them. That said, nothing will deter me from my main commitment which will still be the constituency and my constituents.
Going to conference meant that I had the chance to do one of the conference activities I love to do the most, visiting the exhibition stalls. One such stall I visited was the Labour Animal Welfare Society, who are calling for a ban on fur products. There is no reason why any animal products should be used for the sake of fashion, seeing as there’s a wealth of synthetic products that perform exactly the same task just as well, there is no need to continue with this outdated mode of fashion. It’s with these sort of campaigns where we have to all say one fur all and all fur one.
Coming off conference week left me a little exhausted, but I found the energy to be up bright and early on Saturday morning to head down to the Liberty Stadium, not for match day, but to the selection of the new Welsh Assembly candidates for Neath and Gower. Rebecca Evans was selected as the candidate for Gower and Jeremy Miles as the candidate for Neath. Jeremy is a truly worthy candidate and will be a great representative for the constituency. I will take this opportunity, as I’m sure many will in the coming months, to wish a happy retirement to our outgoing Assembly Member, Gwenda Thomas. Gwenda has worked tirelessly in Cardiff Bay on behalf of the constituency since the founding of the Assembly in 1999 and she will be missed. However, Jeremy is a more than worthy candidate to fill her shoes and I look forward to hitting the campaign trail with him over the next few months, come rain or shine!