Political Opinion: Imagine - good growth in every postcode and hope in every heart

Monthly column by Rachel Hopkins, MP for Luton South and South Bedfordshire.   

Two years on from Labour’s victory in the 2024 General Election, I can look proudly on so much of the change we have delivered.  

A landmark £139 million fair funding boost for Luton Council, investment in local school-based nurseries and free breakfast clubs, a new Community Diagnostic Centre to bring care into our community, £20 million Pride in Place funding in the hands of residents to revitalise Central Luton – all making a real difference for people in our area.  

That said, and now that Keir Starmer has resigned as Prime Minister, it’s been encouraging to hear his presumptive successor, Andy Burnham’s, vision of hope for the future and roadmap to make this a reality. By using the lessons learned from his success as Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy has committed to empower local authorities and economies so they can better deliver for us. 

The number one issue constituents in Luton South and South Bedfordshire contact me about is housing, and for years it has been evident we are on the very front line of the crisis. Having a good, secure home is the foundation of everything.  It’s promising to hear Andy’s ambitious, yet essential, plans to undertake the biggest council housebuilding programme since the postwar period. 

To build on the foundations a secure home provides, we must also overhaul education and support systems for young people. Through further devolution of employment support and training to local authorities, places like ours can develop the pathways we need into the jobs of our future. Andy said it’s time to “bring back working class ambition” and open up opportunities where they are desperately needed through reindustrialisation and technical education. I couldn’t agree more.  

It feels like the voices of people in areas like Luton South and South Bedfordshire are being reflected on the national stage, speaking truth to principles that have long been taken for granted and do not work for us. Trickle-down economics and a hands-off approach bowing to the markets has failed. It’s time for meaningful, positive state intervention to restore public trust, rebuild essential services, and regenerate our places.  

Good growth in every postcode and hope in every heart. It’s what we need and it’s what I’ll keep fighting for us to get.