'It’s time we spoke about Swansea with the pride it deserves'

To mark one year since being elected, Torsten wrote for Wales Online about his first year in office. Read it here or on their website.

It’s a year ago today that I had the honour of being elected Member of Parliament for Swansea West. As a newbie to politics, it was a big change. 12 months on I wanted to share a few reflections on what being an MP has taught me so far.   

Before standing for office, I spent a decade as an economist campaigning to raise the living standards of low-to-middle-income households – to reduce poverty and raise wages. My job was examining spreadsheets, not making speeches. But those spreadsheets made for increasingly uncomfortable – in fact horrifying – reading. They charted rising costs and wages that failed to keep pace, rising homelessness and deepening poverty.   

The value of wages in Swansea weren’t a penny higher on the eve of the 2024 general election than when the Conservatives took office back in 2010. That’s why, when the election was called, I knew it was time to stop charting the problems and start trying to change them.    

That brings me to the first big lesson I’ve learned since being elected: we mustn’t give up on the idea that progress can be made – because it can and it is being made. Yes the country has big problems, and it will take time to fix them after fourteen years of Conservative austerity. But concrete improvements have happened faster than many thought possible. Exploitative zero-hour contracts are being banned, wages for the lowest earners have been raised, and austerity has been ended. Making tough but fair choices on tax last Autumn is why we can invest £50 billion more a year into public services. There’s a long way to go, but wages rose more under the first 10 months of Labour than in 10 years under the Tories. That’s progress – and we’ve got to keep going.    

The second lesson: the power of co-operation. In Wales we know that politics is a team sport because under devolution, when co-operation breaks down, it's the public who pay the price. The Welsh Government did a heroic job of trying to cooperate with the previous UK administration, but were too often met with a brick wall. Now, with Labour in Westminster and Cardiff for the first time in more than a decade, we are starting to see what genuine partnership can achieve. We have set record budgets for the Welsh Government, and that is exactly why NHS waiting times are at last falling. There’s a long road ahead, but we are moving in the right direction and we will fight tooth and nail against Reform’s plans to privatise the NHS.   

Third: most people assume an MP’s job is standing up in Parliament, but most of the work happens in Swansea. Over the past year, I’ve met more than 100 businesses, community groups and charities in Swansea, knocked on almost 3,000 doors with the local Labour Party, and answered more than 7,000 letters about policy issues – not least on assisted dying. As their MP, over 1,000 people have turned to me for help with problems over the past year and I’m glad we often have been able to help. Housing is the most common culprit in Swansea.  

The final thing I’ve learned is this: we need to stop talking Swansea down. Too often, we undersell our potential. But our ugly lovely town has a thriving cultural scene, world-class university, rich industrial and political history, and the potential to host cutting-edge renewable energy technology in the Celtic Sea. It’s time we spoke about Swansea with the pride it deserves and see it matched with vision, investment and jobs.   

Trying to change the charts, not just draw them, is hard. Spreadsheets don’t shout at you like people do! And that’s exactly as it should be. Democracy means listening, learning, and being held to account. Every letter, every doorstep conversation, every community meeting is shaping my work as an MP. I’m proud of what we’ve started – but I know there’s much more to do. So thank you, Swansea West, for putting your trust in me over this past year and the next four. I’ll never take it for granted.