Labour PPCs - we don't seek office for personal gain

Five pledges that show we mean business

The expenses scandal brings suspicion on all those who seek to represent their political parties. As a measure of our intention to try and restore an element of trust between voters and political representatives ahead of the June 4th elections, and an eventual general election, as Prospective Parliamentary Candidates we would like to put on record the following five pledges which will govern our conduct if we are elected to Parliament.

A great many of our current Members of Parliament already embody these principles in their day-to-day conduct and their example should be recognised. We would not like to return to a system where only those who are already independently wealthy can put themselves forward for election to Parliament, so necessary reforms to the system of MPs’ expenses and allowances should acknowledge the legitimate need for those representing constituencies outside Greater London to claim for appropriate accommodation and travel expenses. In the absence, however, of a decision on the final form of the new system, these pledges will act as our guide if we have the honour of being elected to the House of Commons.

• As a parliamentary candidate I will subscribe to high standards of integrity, transparency, accountability and financial economy;
  

• I seek elected office not for personal gain but to serve the public and our democracy, which I consider an honour and a privilege;
  

• I will publish my expenses online within a month of submitting them and publicise them annually in full to constituents;
  

• I will hold regular meetings with my community and will regularly report back to my constituency party;
  

• I will apply the principle of best value to all decisions I make which involve the use of public money to cover my duties, including for travel and accommodation.
  

Signed:

1. Stephen Twigg, Labour and Co-op PPC for Liverpool West Derby
2. Rachel Reeves, Labour PPC for Leeds West
3. Kevin Bonavia, Labour PPC for Rochford and Southend East
4. Tom Flynn, Labour PPC for Southend West
5. Kevin McKeever, Labour PPC for Harborough
6. Stuart King, Labour PPC for Putney
7. Alex Hilton, Labour PPC for Chelsea and Fulham
8. Joe Goldberg, Labour PPC for Witney
9. David Rowntree, Labour PPC for Cities of London and Westminster
10. Lucy Powell, Labour PPC for Manchester Withington
11. Andrew Pakes, Labour and Co-op PPC for Milton Keynes North
12. Matthew Rodda, Labour PPC for East Surrey
13. Cllr Allan Davies, Labour PPC for Basildon and Billericay
14. Julian Ware-Lane, Labour PPC for Castle Point
15. Sonia Klein, Labour PPC for Ilford North
16. Emma Reynolds, Labour PPC for Wolverhampton North East
17. Luke Pollard, Labour PPC for South West Devon
    
18. Charlotte Mackenzie, Labour PPC for Truro and Falmouth
19. Alan Strickland, Labour PPC for Berwick-upon-Tweed
20. Nick Smith, Labour PPC for Blaenau Gwent
21. Ruth Smeeth, Labour PPC for Burton
22. Jude Robinson, Labour PPC for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle
23. Bambos Charalambous, Labour PPC for Enfield Southgate
24. Tim Shand, Labour PPC for Guildford
    
25. James Alexander, Labour PPC for York Outer
26. Bhavna Joshi, Labour PPC for Central Suffolk & North Ipswich
27. Rachel Voller, Labour PPC for Romford
28. Rebecca Rennison, Labour PPC for South West Wiltshire
29. Lee Jameson, Labour PPC for St Austell and Newquay
30. Jonathan Slater, Labour PPC for Aldershot
31. Anneliese Dodds, Labour PPC for Reading East
    
32. Brian Tomlinson, Labour PPC for Twickenham
    
33. Richard Scorer, Labour PPC for Hazel Grove
    
34. Rushanara Ali, Labour PPC for Bethnal Green and Bow
    
35. Claire Hazelgrove, Labour PPC for Skipton and Ripon
    
36. Steve Morgan, Labour PPC for Orpington
    
37. David Williams, Labour PPC for Crewe and Nantwich
    
38. Kathryn White, Labour PPC for Aylesbury
    
39. Daniel Zeichner, Labour PPC for Cambridge
    
40. Eleanor Tunnicliffe, Labour PPC for Richmond Park
    
41. Tony Clements, Labour PPC for Epping Forest
    
42. Edward Brown, Labour PPC for Bedfordshire North East
    
43. Alison Moore, Labour PPC for Finchley and Golders Green
    
44. Chris Clark, Labour PPC for Ashford
45. Paul Smith, Labour PPC for Bristol West
    
46. Sally Gimson, Labour PPC for South Leicestershire
    
47. Swatantra Nandanwar, Labour PPC for Maldon
48. Craig Montgomery, Labour PPC for Epsom & Ewell
49. Jonathan Roberts, Labour PPC for Thirsk & Malton
50. Anas Sarwar, Labour PPC for Glasgow Central
51. Jack Scott, Labour PPC for Sheffield Hallam
52. Ian Campbell, Labour PPC for Newark
53. Antoine Tinnion, Labour PPC for Hexham
54. Michael Castle, Labour PPC South Norfolk
55. Philipa Latimer, Labour PPC for St Ives
    
56. Jane Edbrooke, Labour PPC for East Hampshire
    
57. Alex Cunningham, Labour PPC for Stockton North
    
58. Jayne Innes, Labour PPC for Nuneaton
    
59. John Wiseman, Labour PPC for Westmorland and Lonsdale
60. Max Freedman, Labour PPC for Kingston and Surbiton
61. Jenny Rathbone, Labour PPC for Cardiff Central
62. Stephen Terry, Labour PPC for Hertford and Stortford
63. Julie Elliot, Labour PPC for Sunderland Central
    
64. Tariq Sadiq, Labour PPC for South Cambridgeshire
    
65. Simon Holland, Labour PPC for Chichester
    
66. Jane Thomas, Labour PPC for Keighley
    
67. Ian Ross, Labour PPC for Worthing West
    
68. Mike Hobday, Labour PPC for Welwyn Hatfield
    
69. Mike Robb, Labour PPC for Inverness Nairn Badenoch and Strathspey
    
70. Paul Foster, Labour PPC for Ribble Valley
    
71. Shabana Mahmood, Labour PPC for Birmingham Ladywood
    
72. Sam Townend, Labour PPC for Bristol North West
    
73. Rob Pocock, Labour PPC for Sutton Coldfield
    
74. James Royston, Labour PPC for Bexhill and Battle
    
75. Richard Stevens, Labour PPC for Oxford West and Abingdon
    
76. Bridget Phillipson, Labour PPC for Houghton and Sunderland South
    
77. Susan Hinchcliffe, Labour PPC for Shipley
    
78. Danny Marten, Labour PPC for Haltemprice & Howden
    
79. Howard Linsley, Labour PPC for Meon Valley
    
80. Toby Perkins, Labour PPC for Chesterfield
    
81. Peter Roberts, Labour PPC for North East Cambridgeshire
    
82. Darren Jones, Labour PPC for Torridge and West Devon
    
83. Damien Welfare, Labour PPC for Chipping Barnet
    
84. Emily Benn, Labour PPC for Worthing East and Shoreham
    
85. Simon Burgess, Labour and Co-op PPC for Brighton Kemptown
    
86. Robert Smith, Labour PPC for Havant
    
87. Hattie Ajderian, Labour PPC for Bath
    
88. Ed Williams, Labour PPC for Meriden
    
89. Michael Watson, Labour PPC for Broxbourne
    
90. Mark Dempsey, Labour PPC for the Cotswolds
    
91. Heidi Benzing, Labour PPC for Brentwood and Ongar
    
92. Margaret Curran, Labour PPC for Glasgow East
    
93. John Mackay, Labour PPC Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross
    
94. Martin Jevon, Labour PPC for Taunton Dean
    
95. Funda Pepperell, Labour PPC for Basingstoke
    
96. Gerry Ryan, Labour and Co-op PPC for Croydon Central
    
97. Jayne Buckland, Labour PPC for Wellingborough
98. Darren Barrenger, Labour PPC for Harwich and North Essex
    
99. Howard Dawber, Labour PPC for Bexleyheath and Crayford
    
100. Ian Boulton, Labour PPC for Filton and Bradley Stoke
101. Grahame Morris, Labour PPC for Easington
102. Donald John MacSween, Labour PPC for Eilean Siar
103. Kath McGuirk, Labour PPC for Hornchurch and Upminster
104. Yasmin Qureshi, Labour PPC for Bolton South East
105. Ian Saunders,Labour PPC for Beverley & Holderness
106. Sid Garg, Labour PPC for Uxbridge and South Ruislip
     
107. Sheila Gilmore, Labour PPC for Edinburgh East
108. Debbie Abrahams, Labour PPC for Colne Valley
109. Rick Everitt, Labour PPC for Old Bexley and Sidcup
     
110. Anita MacDonald, Labour PPC for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
     
111. Mike Le-Surf, Labour PPC for Rayleigh and Wickford
     
112. Patrick Davies, Labour PPC for Winchester
     
113. Greg McClymont, Labour PPC for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
     
114. Andrew Judge, Labour PPC for Wimbledon
     
115. Graham Giles, Labour PPC for Gosport
     
116. Katrina Murray, Labour PPC for Dundee East
     
117. Steph Booth, Labour PPC for Calder Valley
     
118. Richard Jackson, Labour PPC for Tatton
     
119. Chris Gudgin, Labour PPC for North West Cambridgeshire
     
120. Ash Rehal, Labour PPC for Faversham and Midkent
121. Tom Ross, Labour PPC for Altrincham & Sale West
122. James A .Normington, Labour PPC for Sleaford & North Hykeham
123. Stella Creasy, Labour PPC for Walthamstow
124. Jim Conalty, Labour PPC for Southport
125. Hamish Sandison, Labour PPC for Monmouth
126. Nick Milton, Labour PPC for Kenilworth and Southam
127. Liam Robinson, Labour PPC for Fylde
128. Bruce Hogan, Labour PPC for Forest of Dean
129. David Graham, Labour PPC for Argyll and Bute
130. Clyde Loakes, Labour PPC for Northampton South
131. Andrew Skudder, Labour PPC for Horsham
132. Sharon Carr-Brown, Labour PPC for Bournemouth West
133. Paul Blomfield, Labour PPC for Sheffield Central
134. David Boot, Labour PPC for Mid Sussex
135. Robert Hull, Labour PPC for Reigate
136. Richard Henry, Labour PPC for North East Herts
137. James Green, Labour PPC for Cheltenham
138. Janice Hurne, Labour PPC for New Forest West
139. Jamie McMahon, Labour PPC for Gainsborough
140. Kevin McNerney, Labour PPC for Harrogate and Knaresborough
141. Jeremy Miles, Labour PPC for Beaconsfield
142. Patrick Mountain, Labour PPC for Louth and Horncastle
143. David Bradley, Labour PPC for Weston-super-Mare
144. Tom Blenkinsop, Labour PPC for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland 
145. Luciana Berger, Labour PPC for Liverpool Wavertree
146. Gerry Ryan, Labour PPC for Croydon Central
147. Andy King, Labour PPC for Rugby
     

Any PPC who wishes to sign the statement or who has pledges of their own please contact Jessica Asato on jessica@progressives.org.uk or on 07939594634

20 May 2009 10:35

 

Comments

• Posted by Jane Thomas on 20 May 2009, 6:13:27 PM The Chair of Keighley CLP wrote to the local newspapers last weekend to say that the CLP had asked for, and been given, an undertaking from me that confirms total openess about expenses and willingness to publish expenses information on a regular basis.
• Posted by Stephen Rennie on 20 May 2009, 6:19:53 PM This is a good start in reclaiming public trust.
• Posted by Mike Hobday on 20 May 2009, 7:08:06 PM

  I've also published my personal pledges at http://mikehobday.blogspot.com/2009/05/personal-integrity.html Mike Hobday Labour candidate, Welwyn Hatfield

• Posted by williamcobbett on 20 May 2009, 7:58:07 PM

  you bunch of goody two shoes! no politics in these declarations! we have heard enough about good personal intentions..... how about an enforceable pledge to seek the Chiltern (or if that ;s taken, the Northstead) hundreds in the event of a challenge to personal (not office) expenses involving more than £1000? this pious drool - is a good start in endorsing public cynicism, Stephen Rennie! neoBlairite Pecksniffery - a pretty straight sort of guy.....show us your WMDs William Cobbett

• Posted by Roma Mills on 20 May 2009, 8:50:08 PM

  This is no more than people should expect.

• Posted by David John Steed on 21 May 2009, 8:02:28 AM

  I would hope that thsi is the start of a reform in the party whereby we get back to our old socialist values. If some parliamentaians had not fallen in love with the failed system that we now live under, core values would have been maintained. Lets go for it!

• Posted by James Normington on 25 May 2009, 6:13:22 PM This is only the start. The electorate deserve the finest calibre who execute their responsibilities wisely and in the public interest. The time has come to revise the expense system and replace it with a taxable allowance. Furthermore we should prohibit MPs from taking second jobs and removing such obvious vested interests from the House.
• Posted by Dr George M. P. Bailey on 27 May 2009, 4:37:04 PM All very laudable.... BUT..... Where is the pledge to defy bullying by the whips; heaven forbid that they are still in existence if we get real radical reform of the whole set up and you get elected. James is right; So where is the pledge to have only one job; that of MP. A pledge must not, like the polish, lose its shine. it must not be one after another, turning into a list of empty promises. We need radical reform of politics at both national and local level, rid our country of unelected bodies as well. Where is the pledge to hold governments to account when they change their minds from manifesto propaganda without rigorous defence of their decision. All too often we get pledges... remember Prescott and his little card... Where is the pledge to drag Westminster and the whole interaction between MPs in the house, into the 21st century Yes, it started with money; but it is much more than expenses, it needs a change in the cultural attitude of the Lords and Commons toward us the electorate. Accusations of hysteria and coming on television saying some MPs are suicidal (I sincerely hope not and offer them my help), is yet another means of showing contempt and not addressing the issues. If you really want to do the public a service, that is your challenge, to bring about radical change and make everyone accountable,make our country Great again, bring all the political system and civil servants into the 21st century. Actions speak louder than words; start now, you don't need to be elected to begin the process! Putting the honour back into honourable is going to be a very hard task, because if you mean it, you will have to challenge your colleagues and party member, after all that is being human. "Happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous" Thucydides Go forward with courage; your battle against those how do not want change is going to be a real struggle, there will be much wailing and weeping!
• Posted by on 15 May 2010, 7:40:54 PM