“Judge us on the real change we deliver,” urges Corbyn

A future Labour government should be judged on the “real change” it delivers and the “concrete improvements it makes to the lives of millions,” Jeremy Corbyn will urge voters at a campaign event on Wednesday morning.

The campaign stop in Telford, in Corbyn’s home county of Shropshire, will see the leader of the Labour Party declare that “the future is ours to make” but also that “we don’t have time to waste”.

Corbyn is expected to set out the goals of a society that doesn’t hold back the talents of its people, and will say that the next Labour government should be judged on whether it has delivered on the following in five years:

• An end to in-work poverty.
• An end to food bank use.
• An end to 1.4 million older people not getting the care they need.
• Over 100,000 genuinely affordable homes a year.
• An end to rough sleeping.
• An end to tuition fees.
• Reduced waiting times for A&E and cancer treatments.
• Brexit sorted in six months.
• Smaller class sizes.
• A green industrial revolution to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and slash carbon emissions.

“Politics should be about your life, your community, your job – the issues you face every day of the week. For me, real politics isn’t about shouting matches in parliament,” Corbyn is expected to say.

“For me, real politics, the politics I stand for, is about sharing power and wealth with people who don’t have a lot of money and don’t have friends in high places – to take control of their own lives. My job as leader, and my party’s job, is to champion those people, and bring about real change.”

Highlighting the differences between himself and other candidates, Corbyn will say: “You know my view of leadership is different from the one people are used to. Yes, I believe leaders should have clear principles that people can trust, and the strength and commitment not to be driven off course.

“You have to stand for something. But leaders must also trust others to play their part. Think of it like this: a good leader doesn’t just barge through a door and let it swing back in the faces of those following behind. A good leader holds open the door for others to walk through because everyone has a contribution to make.

“And when I talk about real change, that isn’t something that will be done to you. It’s something that can only be done with you.”

The Labour leader will promise to be “a very different kind of Prime Minister” – one “who only seeks power in order to share power”, rather “the kind of Prime Minister who believes he was born to rule” or “the kind who thinks politics is a game”.

Labour’s candidate in Telford, Katrina Gilman, was selected to contest the marginal Shropshire seat for Labour in 2018. Although Tory-held, the majority is just 720 votes. Gilman will be hoping she can unseat incumbent Tory MP Lucy Allan.