January 2025 Newsletter
Happy New Year! I hope you had a good Christmas and managed to spend time with your loved ones.
Firstly a big thank you to everyone who donated to my Christmas collection for the Rehoboth Community Outreach Club, your generosity was hugely appreciated.
While last year was certainly one of my busiest, I am anticipating 2025 will be even busier as the hard work of fixing Britain and delivering the change people voted for continues.
As it has been a long time since my last update in November, I have a lot to update you on.
Parliament
On my first day back in Parliament after the Christmas recess I responded to a debate in Parliament about whether to have another General Election! We are getting on with fixing the foundations – while no Government chooses the circumstances under which it comes to office, after leaving us the worst inheritance of any Post-War incoming Government, we will not be taking any lectures from the Tories. You can see my response here.
My work sitting on all of the Mission Boards, the Violence Against Women & Girls Board and the Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing. It’s shameful that under the last Tory Government, Child Poverty was allowed to rise so significantly. However, I’m proud to be working with colleagues to develop a strategy to tackle this which will be launched in the spring, you can see me outlining this work in Parliament here.
I’ve also been increasingly concerned about the rumours that Conservative politicians were offered significant financial inducements to join Reform and have been calling for an investigation, see more here and here. Corruption and economic enticement has no place in our democracy and it is vital we ensure that any suggestion of this is thoroughly investigated.
Party Chair
As Party Chair I sit in the Cabinet.
My work as Chair has been extremely busy as we prepare for the Local Elections in May and continue to build our campaign machine to take on the Opposition.
In December Keir Starmer outlined the Government’s Plan for Change – the deliverables the public can expect us to achieve by the end of this Parliament. I covered the evening media round for this launch and you can see me on Newsnight here. And I also gave a briefing to Labour Members on the Plan.
I was also really pleased to address Scottish Labour Women’s Conference where I spoke about the importance of women standing for office, my journey into politics and the ongoing fight for equality. Whilst there I also visited the Scottish Labour team and campaigned in a Glasgow local government by-election that we managed to win from the SNP.
Community
I have also been enjoying spending time out about in the local community. It was fantastic to nip over the border to Lewisham North to attend the celebration for local Olympian Alex Yee. The Ladywell arena has now been renamed in his honour celebrating both his achievements as an athlete and the community he came from.
In addition, I have recently visited Lewisham Hospital and met with CEO to discuss the challenges facing the hospital and see the progress on the new surgical centre, which when completed will significantly increase their capacity and help cut waiting lists across south London.
Some of the visits I find the most inspirational are those where I meet with volunteers who are giving up their own time to give back to the community. Grandmentors Lewisham is a fantastic programme doing just that where volunteers mentor care leavers and support them as they begin the next chapter of their lives and I really enjoyed meeting them and hearing from both mentees and mentors.
As Christmas approached I was pleased to be able to visit the Forest Hill Delivery Office to meet with Royal Mail postal workers and discuss both how the service has adapted following changing demand and to hear of their plans to reduce their impact on the environment.
I always enjoy my visits to local schools and over the past 6 months it has been great developing relationships with schools which weren’t previously in my constituency. I had a wonderful visit to St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School where I met with both the headteacher and the School Council who were full of questions! I was also able to visit Kelvin Grove School where I was thoroughly impressed by their thoughtful SEND provision, ensuring every pupil is supported.
At the beginning of December it was small business Saturday, a time when we recognise the importance of small and local businesses within our communities. It was great to get out and meet with a number of small businesses we are so lucky to have including Bona Pizzeria and the Journey Café in Forest Hill and Trattoria Raffaele and the Dolphin in Sydenham.
I was also able to pop by Forest Hill Library in December, who have been fundraising to revamp their children’s section. Libraries play such a vital role in our community and it was great to meet the manager and see their dedication.
In less welcome news, I learnt in November that the Post Office on Lordship Lane, is being considered for closure. Alongside the Councillors for Goose Green and Dulwich Hill I wrote to the Post Office to raise concerns about the impact this closure would have on the local community. I understand the Councillors have also started a petition which you may wish to sign here.
It was a pleasure to brave the cold and wind to unveil the new mural at Forest Hill station and then join in the tree lighting and carol singing. I was also able to attend the tree lighting celebration on Kirkdale, supported by the Journey Café and of course, meet Father Christmas!
St John’s East Dulwich also gave me the honour to give a reading at their Christmas Carol Service, which was a beautiful event.
I have also been able to catch up with a couple more schools as they visited Parliament including Beecroft Garden and the Horniman Primary School, I always enjoy meeting schools and taking questions from pupils.
Thank you for your continued support.
Best wishes,
Ellie
Ellie Reeves MP