PPC Profile: Tom Flynn

Full name: Tom Flynn

Age: 29

From: Essex – now living in South London

PPC for: Southend West

Website: www.labour.org.uk/ppc/thomas_flynn

Selection Result: Don’t know but I won on the first ballot.

Member of the Labour Party since: 2002

CV:
Degree in Economics from University of Reading. MA Interactive Production from Southampton Solent University. I have worked in investment banking and higher education but have worked full time for a public sector trade union for the last three years in various roles including the anti-BNP campaign for the 2008 GLA and 2009 European Parliamentary elections for London. I was a member of the Young Fabian executive for 4 years and chaired the Young Fabian education policy commission.

My main policy interests are:
International development (especially Latin America), employment rights, equality.

Three things I think should be in the next Labour manifesto are:
1 – Investment in council housing – with hundreds of thousands of people desperately needing better quality accommodation, it is the responsibility of a Labour government to provide decent homes for all. It would also be a huge boost in the campaign to stop the BNP from gaining seats at a local and national level.

2 – Repeal of the Conservatives’ anti-Trade Union laws – Britain’s strict anti-union laws make it difficult for unions to organise effectively on behalf of working people. A progressive society should be one that protects workers from exploitation, not one that condemns them for taking action when their terms and conditions are under threat.

3 – Living wage for all – It is unacceptable that the state has to ‘top up’ wages for many workers so they can afford to live. The minimum wage was a good start but it needs to be significantly increased.

I think people should vote for me because:
I am passionate about representing all sections of society to ensure that no-one feels neglected. By focusing too strongly on ‘middle England’ we have driven Labour people away to smaller parties, and in some cases to the BNP. A vote for me is a vote to ensure that Labour is the party of the many, not the few.

AOB:
At a time when engagement in politics is at a low, it is crucial that the next generation of Labour politicians show how they will do politics differently. I was one of the authors of the letter that went to Labour’s NEC urging action on MPs’ expenses, and I’m proud that we stood up and refused to be implicated in something that was destroying public trust in politics. We need to be bold, to embrace electoral reform as a way of reconnecting with the electorate and offer policies that motivate people to come out and vote, rather than try to scare them to the ballot box with horror stories about the Tories.