Email #1

Dear Harriet

 You promised to listen to what the party members want so, inspired by the gentleman who wrote a letter a day to David Cameron, I have decided I am going to send you an email a day until the Labour party start listening to its members. Each day I'm going to tell you a little bit about me so that you will understand why I feel as strongly as I do that the Labour party needs to start listening to what its members and supporters are crying out for and need. So here goes.... I am a single mum. Ive got two children. My first was born to me after I quit six form college to become a nurse. I was turned down for the course (which was mostly practice based) because I was pregnant. That didnt really seem right to me at the time but I accepted it. I married my childs father, who turned out to be abusive. After he left me, I went back to sixth form, which was hard because it was attached to a Catholic school, but I did it, and I left two years later with my A-levels and a glowing reference for  University where I was transfering my Open University credits that I obtained at night during sixth form to study Theology. I had accepted nursing would be too hard with a small child, so I decided to become a teacher instead. In my final year I found that despite being on the pill I was pregnant again and the same day I took the positive test my boyfriend of two years announced he was leaving me for someone else. I have never stopped either of my childrens fathers seeing their children, but they chose not to. My ex boyfriend has, for the most part, supported my youngest, however my ex husband has been taken to court several times and is currently, once again, not supporting my eldest. When the CSA closed his case, they wrote to me, as part of the hand over to the new agency (forgive me for forgetting the name) to ask me if I wanted them to write off the £12k he owes in backdated support. This astounds me to be quite frank. I finished uni heavily pregnant and somewhat famous as the only woman that I know of to have a baby the night before graduation and still attend. I had worked hard over six years for my 2:1 honours degree, achieving a first in my final assignment, so I was proud to be the first graduate in my family for four generations ( I think ive counted the maths correctly there, my great grandmother had a medical degree from Edinburgh), so I wasnt missing graduation and I have photographs from the day with my eldest, who was 6 and my youngest who was 12 hours old. Its a lovely photograph and one of my favourites, it is displayed in my living room to show my children that nothing should hold them back. I could write a novels worth telling you everything I have had to overcome not just to obtain that degree but since that day, because around that time I had started to realise my eldest didnt just have ADHD but had Aspergers too. But that is why I am going to tell you a bit about us every day so you can see why I need the Labour party to start listening to its members. We need a return to socialist values and principles, These were the principles on which this party was founded, and how I was raised. My own mother, she actually started campaigning for the Labour party at the age of 10. Can you believe that? My uncle was running for local council as a Labour candidate but it was my mum who was engaging and debating on the doorstep with the voters. She and my Dad raised me to use my voice, so Im now using it to talk to you.
 I hope you will listen.
Talk to you again tomorrow,
 Liz O'Connor
Arundel and South Downs constituent, Labour party member, Unite Community member.