Fred Dimbleby

"What a time we have had together." 🩵

Today I was proud to be part of the team that carried the Steel Industry Nationalisation Bill through its second reading in Parliament. On Labour’s watch, Britain’s industrial heartlands will never be forgotten. As the Commons rises for recess, I have let colleagues know that I've chosen to step back as PPS in the Department for Business and Trade. It has been a genuine privilege to put Labour values into practice in this role. Looking back, one of the moments I'm most proud of is helping introduce our landmark Employment Rights Act, including day-one paternity rights for dads. As the youngest parent in Parliament, that one meant everything to me, and we must of course go further. After much reflection over recent weeks, I've thought carefully about where I stand on things. As a party, we have to be bolder with our ideas and more confident in our approach, kinder to ourselves as one Labour family, and we must make people in every corner of this country feel that politics is genuinely working for them in their everyday lives. I'll keep fighting on the causes closest to my heart: strengthening parental rights, fixing the broken student loans system, regulating rogue bailiffs, and delivering the change the North has long deserved. I want to play my full part in what comes next. I am lucky to work alongside brilliant colleagues across the PLP and to represent the best city in the country. The people of York Outer are my constituents, my neighbours, and my friends. I'll never stop fighting for them as their MP.

Anywhere will do for Andy. This expensive by-election is all about his own personal ambition.