Portsmouth’s new Labour team visited Parliament today to meet with city MP Stephen Morgan and key members of the Shadow Cabinet

The visit to the House of Commons follows three gains at last week’s local elections and Labour’s share of the vote increasing by 12%, the highest of all political parties in Portsmouth.

New councillors Tom Coles, George Fielding and Judith Smyth, joined Cllr Yahiya Chowdhury in meeting the group leader and Portsmouth South Member of Parliament Stephen Morgan.

The group met with Andrew Gwynne, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, Shadow Education Secretary, and deputy party leader Tom Watson.

Topics high on the list for discussion included better funding for Portsmouth, more resources for local schools, and ending Tory and Lib Dem austerity. Under the Tories, local government has been cut by over 40%, our city’s schools are set to lose £3.6m, and 1,000 police officers have been lost already.

Stephen Morgan MP said:

“It’s so good to have a growing Labour team in Portsmouth. Working together, we will stand up for the public services we all rely on, both on the council and up in Westminster. 

The Government have their head in the sand over so many issues coming up on the doorstep in our great city and it’s great to have new councillors elected to fight for a fairer city which works for everyone”.

Andrew Gwynne, Shadow Communities Secretary added:

“It was a pleasure to catch up with the new Labour councillor team and congratulate them on last week’s election results. 

I wasn’t surprised to see Labour in Portsmouth gaining in wards we have never won in before, and making significant progress in others, putting the party in a great place for future elections.

I will be working with Stephen on taking forward the ideas we discussed and know the team will serve Portsmouth well”.