A Personal Journey

by Suzy Stride

When someone asks me, “Why do you support the Labour party?” I often have a set thing I schpiel off about how The Labour party stands for fairness, equality, standing up for those without a voice etc. But in writing this article I wanted to think harder about it – why do I vote Labour and is there really a big difference between it and the other parties? How much does my faith in Jesus Christ influence the party I vote for?

I think if I was to answer this in a nutshell I would quote Isaiah 58: 6-9 (one of my favourite passages in the Bible) “This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts.” (The Message) For me the Labour Party has always been the party that prioritises this, and so that is a big part of why I support them.

I was brought up and have lived in Tower Hamlets, East London, all my life (other than going to University). It is one of the poorest areas in the country with high unemployment rates and many low income families. Seeing a lot of poverty and disadvantage around me as I grew up instilled in me a passion to bring change to such communities. Tower Hamlets has been through huge transformation in the last 20 years with the Canary Wharf development, yet the wealth from such projects has not flowed enough to the surrounding community and has created huge social polarisation.

When I was at Cambridge University I was the most “common” person the other students had met, but back home my young people call me “posh” (I now work part time as a youth worker). Either way I have seen 2 different worlds in my 26 years and something I am passionate about is bringing greater equality of opportunity to young people from poorer backgrounds. Many of those I work with are bright enough to go to Cambridge, but did not even get GCSEs because of barriers in their lives which they could not help. Again I would say the Labour Party have always shown a greater commitment to seeing greater equality for young people.

One thing that always strikes me about almost every Conservative I have ever met, (though they are very nice people), is that few of them come from a working class or disadvantaged background. I would say that the Labour party has a slightly broader support base, with people from working, middle and upper class backgrounds. If I am honest, most of the Conservatives I have met never seem to have a full understanding of the hardship and difficulty that disadvantaged “poor” people have had to go through. Part of me feels that this lack of understanding is fundamental to their politics and what they believe. Likewise I would say that for many ministers in the Labour Party it is their understanding and anger towards such poverty and injustice that drives them. Sometimes people think that those at the top are less caring, but having met a number of Labour ministers, I am so glad to see that many of them are incredibly caring and driven people.

I have also met many Labour party members and councillors that work hard and are not in it for the power but because they care about people, local communities and justice. I have to say that along with this I have also met people who have lacked integrity that I have not respected, and this saddens me, but I am glad they are not the majority.

Every political party has its strengths and weaknesses but when all is said and done, if Jesus were around today I think he would care more about the widows, the poor and the voiceless as opposed to the wealthy businessman. For me Jesus was very clear about the fact that he wants us to be agents for change whether on a one-to-one or a national level. We are to be salt and light. But more than this the Bible shows a God who hates poverty and injustice. Amos 2: 6-7 says “I will not turn back my wrath, they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed”. For me setting the oppressed free (Isaiah 58) is something we can do through the church, through community projects, through writing letters, but also through the sphere of politics. Politics is often seen as a dirty business, but essentially it is about representing people and creating change. Practically I would say it is increasingly crucial that Christians get out of their cosy cliques and church run projects and get dirty! We need to be going to our local ward meetings, we need to be standing as councillors. Fundamentally I see being a councillor or an MP as a way to serve people. It can be a very sacrificial role. It saddens me and I am sure it saddens Jesus how few Christians stand as councillors and get involved.

If you are someone that wants to start getting involved simply find out where your local Labour Party ward meets and start going along. Something I have done a lot of is simply knocking on people’s doors and finding out their concerns (e.g. maybe their rubbish does not get picked up, or the local building site dust is destroying their garden…!) and then I can pass these concerns onto a councillor who can then deal with them and hopefully resolve the problem. What a great way to serve your local community and be a light!

I will finish this article with another quote from Isaiah 58 9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices.. and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,..Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight…You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.” (The Message)

Suzy Stride, 26, lives and works in Tower Hamlets for City Gateway

Suzy Stride, 05/02/2009