24 hours – non-stop and no sleep

From the people who set up their stalls at the famous Surrey Street market at dawn, and the bus drivers that get us home, to the NHS staff who care for the sick no matter what the hour of the day, Croydon is a 24/7 town.

From 7am on Monday I will spend 24 hours getting close to the action during a non-stop, no sleep tour of Croydon Central, where I’m standing to be the next MP. I’ll speak to everybody from parents and patients to traders and teachers, to NHS workers, business owners and refuse collectors. The aim is simple: to learn more about what they want from the next Labour government.

As the general election fast approaches, I’ve knocked on thousands of doors, pounded the streets and battled to save our NHS. Because we know that this country needs a new government – a Labour government.

My message is clear. First, we need to save the NHS in Croydon where our local hospital was the first in London to declare a major internal incident this year, and where 50,000 people wait more than a week for a GP appointment.

And second, it’s time to make Croydon the economic hub of south London and I want to start by making Croydon Zone 4 instead of Zone 5 (which it should be geographically) and saving thousands of commuters £350 a year.

At 7am, I’ll start at East Croydon Station. I’ll speak to commuters about my Zone 4 campaign, and about the horrendous service we’ve got on the trains at the moment. Then onwards to discuss with parents at a local nursery and a school our plans to extend childcare for 3 and 4 year olds.  I’ll visit a couple of small businesses, the bed-rock of Croydon’s economy, I’ll meet with people with mental health problems that Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall will make a priority.  I’ll hear the hopes and dreams of some kids and serve soup for people who need it at night.  Overnight, shelf-stacking in a supermarket beckons along with a helping at a call centre, and setting up a market stall.

Each and every one of these people will rely on a Labour Government. And each and every one have been let down by the Tories.

Croydon’s current Tory MP is in a state of panic – refusing to associate himself with his own party by never putting ‘Conservative’ on his leaflets and telling voters that he’s nothing like David Cameron. His shameful record of voting for the bedroom tax, raising VAT and leaving Croydon with a school places crisis has made me more determined than ever.

Today, you can join me with the hashtag #Sarah24Croydon or visit my website. Please drop me a line of support on Twitter, I might need it to keep going.

I am incredibly proud and privileged to be standing to become the first female MP of my vibrant hometown. The difference between me and Westminster’s Gavin Barwell, is this:  Over the next 24 hours, I can look everybody I meet in the eye and say one thing: with Ed in Number 10, we’ll never stop listening, and we’ll never stop fighting for Croydon.