Yvette Cooper’s revolution for supporting families is right for Labour

I admired the strength of many of my fellow former parliamentary candidates, who felt ready to write about their defeats immediately after the general election, and throw themselves headlong into the leadership election days later.

For me, it was all too raw and painful in those first days and weeks, coming to terms with the scale of our defeat and the knowledge that so many ordinary people would suffer for five more years as a result. And so, as the leadership election got underway, I retreated for a while, determined to switch off and take a step back after a gruelling few years of life being dominated by being key seat candidate.

But for all of us, there are certain flashpoints when we think about why we are Labour, what motivated us to join the party and what our party should stand for and do. I have felt reminded of these things and, as a result, fired up as I have listened to Yvette Cooper in recent weeks.

When I think of what our party stands for, it is fighting for a more equal society, country and world.

When I think of our proudest achievements in government, I think of Sure Start children’s centres, which Yvette Cooper played a key role in setting up and which helped to give every child the best start in life.

When I think of the biggest tragedies eminating from the last five years of Tory rule, the decimation of Sure Start is right up there, along with the way efforts to tackle child poverty have been carelessly tossed to one side.

And I’m proud to be backing Yvette because I feel inspired by the way she has put ending child poverty and investing in childcare at the heart of her campaign. Policies that reflect our Labour values, represent our past achievements and can act as the building blocks as we build a more equal society for generations to come.

For too long childcare has been filed away in the ‘policies for the mum vote’ box – but the economic and social benefits of investing in childcare can impact on us all and change our society. There is plentiful evidence that investing in high quality childcare is the greatest way to narrow the gap between the most advantaged and disadvantaged children in the first five years of their lives. Investing in free or affordable childcare helps to lift many parents out of the childcare trap, where they are barely earning enough to pay for childcare, and in turn is a key way to help to lift families out of poverty, along with tackling low pay and job insecurity.

I’m not going to lie – a lot of things have made me angry in the last two months, but this week’s budget attacks on the low paid, on the vulnerable, on working families, on third-born children – all of which will lead to rising numbers of children living in poverty – was the angriest I have been yet.

It comes down to this: Why should children be punished for the circumstances they are born into? Instead of vilifying parents who are trapped in poverty, why aren’t we helping them? Don’t all children deserve the best start in life?

And I know that Yvette shares my passion on this subject. As I’ve talked about before, I was working for a childcare charity at the last election, and saw the Tory dismantling of Sure Start take place in front of my eyes. As we fought this, Yvette fought alongside us, even spending Mothers’ Day with parents from across the country whose local services were under threat as we protested at Downing Street.

I believe the vision Yvette has set out – of a revolution in the way families are supported – is both morally right and tactically correct for the Labour Party, because it speaks to many voters. And this brings me on to my next point about Yvette: speaking to voters.

My key seat, Elmet & Rothwell, bordered Yvette’s constituency, and we spent many hours out on the campaign trail together, knocking on doors, holding meetings, talking and listening to voters. I’ve seen her in action talking to people – small business owners, victims of crime, the young , the Tory-voting policeman at risk of losing his job, the pensioners planning to vote UKIP, the young mum who had never bothered to vote. Speaking to them not like a politician, but a normal person – listening, asking opinions, not shying away from difficult conversations, and genuinely connecting with voters.

As candidates in key seats, personally speaking to thousands of voters over several years in the run-up to the election, we have an insight that is more than merely anecdotal.

I don’t remember a single voter telling me they weren’t voting for us because we had “lurched to the left”. But I do remember many voters telling me: “You’re all the same”. It was incredibly frustrating because it was so untrue, and in 2020 we have to defeat that point of view, and we do that by starting now.

A Labour focus on eradicating child poverty and making free childcare a headline pledge, in stark contrast to a government tearing up child poverty targets and attacking low-paid families and children at the first opportunity gets us off to a good start. A policy that will help us win back voters, attract those non-voters we so often overlook in our analysis, and stay true to the principles of the party we’re a part of. Of course it’s only one piece of the jigsaw, but it’s the kind of bold pledge, in line with our values, that we should be looking to our next leader for.

Veronica King was the Labour candidate for Elmet & Rothwell