My name is Matthew, and I am the Labour Party candidate to be the MP for the new, bigger constituency of Wirral West. The Wirral is my home, and where I grew up. I love it here, the people, the culture, and its beautiful beaches and parks.
I went to school and college on the Wirral; my mum is a Librarian at a local primary school and my dad is a teaching assistant at a college here. But growing up in Birkenhead, I saw the impact of Tory governments, as my school was failed by historic low investment and low expectations. After school clubs were cut and classrooms were crumbling; no-one should lose out on a good education because of where they live.
Thanks to the last Labour Government, I was the first in my family to go to university, and I went to Liverpool John Moores. During my studies, I worked full time at a mortgage brokerage to fund myself through it. I became motivated by learning and improvement and threw myself into study and work.
In 2010 I joined the Labour Party, and I’ve been campaigning and fighting for change ever since. I founded a local young labour group, became a councillor for Upton, Woodchurch and Overchurch in 2013, and in 2016, a Cabinet Member on Wirral Council in 2016.
On Wirral’s Cabinet, I was proud to introduce policies that empowered communities. We put money into the hands of local people to be spent on what mattered to them. That work helped our community groups – already doing so much – to keep going. It gave kids something to do of an evening and it helped businesses to start and scale.
Motivated by public service and wanting to deliver change, I volunteered with local charities to get food from supermarkets that was going to go to waste to those in need – as well as youth charities which aim to provide young people with opportunities and experiences which help divert them from anti-social behaviour and raise their ambition.
In 2015, I led the campaign in Wirral West for Labour which beat Esther McVey. We won by focussing on what matters to people on the Wirral, including fighting Tory plans which would damage our green environment and our beaches. I understand what matters to people here on the Wirral and I will fight for you.
Since leaving the Council in 2018, I have worked in regulation across financial services and energy, to hold banks and energy companies to account and prioritise what matters to consumers and make sure they are working for us all. Now, I work in payments, tackling fraud and scams which do so much damage across the country.
I’ve run winning campaigns across the new Wirral West constituency. I have a track record of delivery in elected office here, and I’m ready to hit the ground running in parliament.
I know why winning matters. I know that politics changes people’s lives because it changed mine. A Labour Government gave me and my family opportunities we would never have – because it was ambitious for people like us.
The Wirral is a wonderful place to live. But after 14 years of austerity, it often feels like nothing works anymore – and we need our public services to be fit for the future so that they are there when we need them.
We can have a government ambitious for the Wirral again. A government that believes in places like ours, that is ambitious for us to have the best schools and hospitals, which protects our environment, and wants to harness the talents of the people here who have so much to offer.
I am standing to be your Labour MP because I believe that, together, we can change our community and our country.
Matthew Patrick for Wirral West 