Seven of Labour’s newest MPs look back on a ‘relentless’ first year

Steve Witherden, Miatta Fahnbulleh, Jeevun Sandher

For Witherden, the MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, Fahnbulleh, the MP for Camberwell and Peckham and Sandher, the MP for Loughborough, Labour’s first year has been a lesson in managing urgent reform against the weight of political constraints. All talk about the urgency to drive radical reforms – and the costs of falling short.

Steve Witherden, Miatta Fahnbulleh and Jeevun Sandher. Composite: Sean Smith/The Guardian

Witherden’s first day in parliament was also the day he lost his mother. “The serjeant at arms came in and said I needed to get on a train straight back to north-east Wales. I was able to be with my mum and hold her hand when she died just before midnight.”

He calls the experience disorienting and says he struggled to find his footing. But a year on, he is unrepentant about voting against the government’s welfare plans.

“My feeling was we’d got it wrong. I thought we did need to make a stand on that. You risk undermining your own side – but ultimately, it led to a sound decision.”

Witherden argues Labour has been bold on workers’ rights and renationalisation but warns the party should not retreat. “Labour is best when it is bold.”

He sums up the year as “a great honour and a privilege to represent the area where you come from”.

Fahnbulleh, as a government minister, opts for a measured tone, sharing challenges without criticising the government. She describes the past year in one word: “Pace. When you look at the policies, the interventions, the legislation, it’s a ridiculous amount in one year – particularly when you think about the inertia of government for the last five.”

She accepts it hasn’t all landed. “We’ve got to do more on bread-and-butter cost of living issues. That’s what people will judge us by.” She is proud of the recent extension of the warm homes discount, a policy she has long championed. “That intervention will touch 6m households and countless lives.” But she says the government is still united. “The stakes are too high for us not to rally. We have a collective duty to make this count.”

Sandher calls the year “determined” and describes this period as an “angrier time in politics. People are literally turning away from us in Westminster and say democracy feels like it isn’t working.” He says he is proudest of helping to organise Labour support for the assisted dying legislation.

But for him, the real challenge is to balance stability with a bigger vision. “Ideas are what move people to change the country. Until you get here, you don’t realise how important ideology really is.”