“This is where I am and where I will always be” – A day in Liverpool with Luciana Berger

Luciana Berger picked me up from Liverpool Lime Street station on a Friday morning in her little car. It’s spotless (it turns out it’s been cleaned before I arrived. I feel honoured). Berger has had the car for years, she explains as we navigate the somewhat complex city centre road system. The car doesn’t sound well, and as we head into the tunnel on the way to the Wirral, there’s a distinct burning smell to match the sound of an overworked gearbox. She’s concerned that the car will break down (as am I to be honest, as we’re on a flyover by this point) and I joke that these car troubles will provide colour for the piece. It turns out the clutch had gone, and we had to leave it in the car park of the Wetherspoons where we stopped for lunch (the fish and chips was excellent, thanks for asking).

We were on our way to the Wirral to campaign in Wirral West, number 49 on the party’s target seat list. The sitting MP is DWP Minister Esther McVey. I can report that those who mentioned McVey on the doorstep that day were far from complimentary – seemingly this is not an unusual occurance. Luciana was in the Wirral on this occasion to campaign with other local politicians (including Sefton Central MP Bill Esterson and MEP Theresa Griffin) against fire service cuts, but she told me she heads over to the Wirral to campaign most weeks – a lesson some of her front bench colleagues could do with heeding in the months ahead.

I didn’t expect Berger to be so dedicated to campaigning in a local target seat (no offence to her intended, it’s just that many MPs tend to talk big and act small when it comes to knocking on doors in seats where they aren’t the candidate) but Berger is a whirling dervish of energy.

On leaving the Wirral we head back into Liverpool for her next engagement – speaking at a Secondary School about her work as an MP. I’m worried that we’re going to be late, not because of the car (although it’s making painfully high pitches whining noises and travelling pretty slowly by now) but because Luciana wants to point out landmarks from both her constituency in particular and the city in general. Born and raised in Wembley, Berger gained an unfortunate reputation back in 2010 when she was selected for the seat as someone without affinity to the area after getting a quiz question about Liverpool manager and all-time great Bill Shankly wrong in a local paper. Based on my day on Merseyside with her, that reputation seems completely unfounded, and she rolls her eyes when I mention it:

“I feel like I’ve more than proved my connections, I’m here as much as I possibly can be, my life is here, my friends are here, my partner is here, this is where I am and where I will always be.” 

I ask her what she learned from the experience, and she tells me, dryly, that she thinks as an MP “you should never answer a quiz”. Although she does admit that prior to standing for Parliament she appeared on a Channel 4 quiz hosted by Dave Berry. (Unfortunately, I have not been able to get hold of the footage.)

Driving through her constituency she points out the local youth club down a side street where she tells me she invited Plan B to come and speak. And recently there was a jobs fair attended by 2000 people and with dozens of local employers taking part. People have already started asking when the next one will be, such was its success.

Being a high-profile MP must have its downsides though. I ask Berger if she’s often spotted by constituents. She says that the yoghurt aisle of her local Asda seems to be a hot spot for meeting constituents. Sometimes they won’t say hi though, they’ll just tweet about it. That must be unnerving?

“Mortifying. Someone once tweeted to say they had lapped me in Sefton Park.”

Quite – especially as it’s a big park. It’s by no means the worst experience she’s faced on social media lately though. In recent months Luciana has faced a barrage of anti-semitic tweets. She says that if I go online I’ll be able to see the messages she’s received while we’ve been talking. I look through them on the train on the way home. They’re vile and it’s only a snapshot. She’s received more than 2500 of them.

She tells me that she wants social media companies to “be more responsible when it comes to being platforms of hate which unfortunately is what they can be used for.”

The problem of course is that on Twitter it’s usually only the recipient of such messages who sees the full range and scope of the bile that’s aimed towards them – unless, like I did, you happen to go looking for it. Berger says that colleagues have been supportive – especially Miliband and his team – but like most they’ve only seen a handful of the attacks.

“No-one else around is really going to have a full picture or idea what is going on because they couldn’t possibly. So that is part of the challenge when you are in the middle of that kind of experience as I am at the moment.”

There has been coverage in the local press though. To be honest, they couldn’t ignore it now that the abuse has moved from being an online to a ‘real world’ phenonema. Recently there was an attempt by a group of far right thugs to turn up outside her constituency office. They were stopped by the police before they were able to harass anyone, but the public nature of being an MP – getting spotted when you’re buying a yoghurt, or going for a run – must make this sort of things deeply worrying. As bad as it is though (and be under no illusions, the messages she’s received are vile) Luciana is still able to put the experience into perspective:

“There are some very serious problems across Europe with anti Semitism, particularly in some other countries. I was in Paris recently when I met elected officials there that are contending with a very serious problem so we have to do everything we possibly can so we don’t face the terrible experiences happening in some of our European neighbouring countries.”

We arrive at the school in time for her talk and are escorted up to a room full of kids who have stayed back late to hear their local MP speak. Understandably, the kind of kids who want to do that are more likely to have thoughtful questions to ask. Many of them are on health (particularly mental health) which overlaps with her Shadow Ministerial brief. She’s engaging as she talks to the kids, talking to them on their level without patronising them and happy to answer all of their questions. That is, until one future Paxman decides to ask her if she’d like to be leader of the Labour Party. She laughs and looks at me, sat taking notes in the front row. She tells the students that being a party leader is a hard job (she’s not wrong) and she’s very happy doing the job she currently has. A politicians answer? Sure – but also a pretty human answer too.

Next up – after a quick lunch at the aforementioned Wetherspoons where we leave the poor struggling car – it’s time for a school gates surgery, where Luciana mingles amongst the parents. They know she’s coming, but most carry on with their business. A few stop to chat about the school, about their families and local issues. One even brings a present (a poster for the office).

The day comes to a close with a bit of doorknocking. Berger calls it “Luciana down your street” – and it does exactly what it says on the tin. She picks a number of streets in her constituency, knocks on their door, talks to local residents about their concerns and takes up issues on their behalf. She’s aiming to cover the whole constituency with these visits alone (separate from Voter ID or other campaigning) by the end of the Parliament. Then, I presume, she’ll start again. Those who answer their doors on a Friday afternoon to find their MP asking if they can help with anything seem happy (if a little taken aback) by the offer.

In a safe seat, where Berger doesn’t need to work this hard to retain her spot on the green benches, it’s heartening to see someone willing to work so hard to build and retain a connection with those who sent her to Parliament in the first place.