The new MP for Hastings and Rye has used her maiden speech to praise the area’s fishermen, local volunteers and the constituency’s former MP. Helena Dollimore was speaking in the House of Commons during a debate on the King’s Speech on Tuesday July 23.
She began by highlighting her local links. “It is the honour of my life to represent my home of Hastings and Rye. I know that you are very familiar, Madam Deputy Speaker, with all that we in Hastings and Rye have to offer visitors—especially our famous fish and chips. In recent years, our fisherman have worked hard to keep our local fishing industry going in the most difficult of circumstances, and they will always have my full support.”
Helena Dollimore’s speech continued with thanks to Sally-Ann Hart, the former Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye. “She worked extremely hard for our constituency, and I thank her in particular for her work in support of women and children feeling domestic abuse—a legacy that I hope to build on. Another thing that we wholeheartedly agree on is speaking out about the unacceptable levels of abuse and intimidation that too many Members of this House have faced, particularly women.”
She celebrated several reasons why she thinks the area is so special. “Perhaps what defines us most, though, is our community spirit, underpinned by our volunteers and charities, who do so much. Our calendar is full of carnivals and festivals, from Jack in the Green to bonfire night. Those events are made possible only by volunteers who give up their time to give back to the community and raise money for our local charities. Volunteers also maintain and protect so many of our amazing public spaces, from Hastings country park to Rye harbour nature reserve and Camber Sands.”
Picking up the theme of change, Helena Dollimore used her first speech in the House of Commons to highlight some of her priorities:
“Our road and rail infrastructure is stuck in the past: we may be a similar distance from London as Brighton is, but our train line takes twice as long. We lie at the end of the A21, a road that has been described as the least developed in the south-east of England. As any driver will tell you, we have the worst potholes in the country, and our water infrastructure is also failing us: Southern Water has a lot to answer for in my constituency, dumping record levels of sewage along our coastline from St Leonards through Hastings to Fairlight, Pett, Camber Sands and Winchelsea beach.
“Life expectancy is lower than the national average, a trend that has got worse over the past 14 years. People wait longer for an ambulance in my constituency than anywhere else in the south-east of England, and the situation is particularly bad in our villages and rural areas such as Winchelsea, where people wait 45 minutes on average when having a stroke or heart attack.
“As a seaside destination, our area has benefited hugely from tourism, but we are also at the sharp end of the housing crisis, with spiralling rents and simply not enough homes being built. Too many of my constituents are left in poor-quality rental accommodation, whether by Southern Housing or private landlords.
“This Government have a mission to break down the barriers to opportunity. That is sorely needed in my constituency, where almost 40% of children are growing up in poverty and over half our young people are leaving school without the essential qualification of a grade 4 in English and maths.”
You can read the whole speech on the Hansard website
Image Credits: Helena Dollimore .