This election is about change.
For months now, I’ve been speaking to people from every background and in every community across the north.
I’ve heard first hand accounts from people who’ve been forced to take out credit union loans to pay for private healthcare because they can’t afford to sit on a waiting list for years in pain.
I’ve spoken to nurses and junior doctors, running themselves into the ground to make sure that the people in their care get the best possible outcomes - and doing it for far less than people in the same jobs in Britain or the south.
I’ve listened to young people who can’t afford to buy their first home, pensioners struggling to keep the heat on (even in June) and others lucky enough to get on the property ladder who are at their wit’s end because they can’t keep up with sky high mortgage prices.
How could you not be frustrated with the way things are? After 14 years of brutal Tory governments, public services are on life support, our health service has already started to collapse, wages have stagnated and costs are through the roof. And in the middle of it all, the two parties charged with leading the government both decided to tear it down for years at a time, leaving us unprotected from unfiltered Tory austerity.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
Almost five years ago people from every community came together to cast their votes for change.
After two years where the only voices from here at Westminster were the DUP, who used that power to cause chaos, you decided to flip the consensus.
In an election where we were all told that we couldn’t make a difference, voters decided to choose change.
You sent more than just a message - you sent hardworking SDLP MPs who have fought for you, your family and our communities every single day.
In the time since, we’ve delivered for people and projects in as many communities as possible. We’ve secured almost £100m for university expansion in the north west, we delivered a step change in investment from the Irish Government through the shared island unit worth more than £1bn for projects like Narrow Water Bridge, the A5, Casement Park and far more, we’ve brought new regeneration funds to redevelop and enhance town and city centres and we’ve seen investment in addiction services to help the most vulnerable people and families who need our help.
We’ve done all that, and more, with a Tory government - imagine what we could do with a Labour government that understands this place and listens to the views of our MPs.
Because SDLP MPs have made sure that our voice - and your voice - is heard.
On the issues that matter to people - standing up for our health service, demanding oil and gas companies pay higher taxes on their profits to support people struggling with the cost of living, fighting for investment in public services, jobs and skills - we have been loud and clear.
And on no more important issue than the genocide taking place in Gaza.
Claire Hanna and I have been the most vocal opponents of the blank cheque written by British prime ministers and the American president for the onslaught against the Palestinian people.
We have spoken hard truths to our political rivals and our allies when they’ve got this wrong.
And while others enjoyed parties in the White House, we stood in solidarity with people here who have always supported peace and an end to the genocide.
That’s what you get with SDLP MPs - representatives who stand their ground, stick to their principles and fight for you, whatever the political weather.
In constituencies across Northern Ireland, voters will have clear choices in this election.
For some it will be between a strong SDLP MP or the empty seat of an abstentionist that won’t be counted when you need it.
In others it will be between us or parties that have done deals with the Tories in their own interests.
Whatever the choice you face, I guarantee that an SDLP MP will be there for you, will cast your vote against this toxic Tory government and will deliver for our community.
After more than a decade of austerity, isolation, division and deadlock we have a chance for change. It is a chance for a new start for all of us. On 4th July, take that chance. Vote SDLP.