Keir Starmer visits Nuneaton as he launches key childcare plan for General Election

Labor leader Keir Starmer today picked Nuneaton to deliver on one of his key General Election manifesto pledges. The man who wants to become Prime Minister joined a pirate-making session with the youngsters in Year 1 at Nursery Hill Primary School.

He and Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow education secretary, were here to launch the party’s childcare plans. But it was also a great time for the students, sitting at a table with the little ones making pirates.

They even imparted pearls of wisdom on the youngsters, telling them to “use lots of glue” as they stuck lollipop sticks to their characters. Nuneaton is a seat Labor is desperate to win at the general election. Only last week Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, met with business owners in the town centre.

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Many of them raised smiles among the two leading politicians as they proudly displayed their pirates. Before they entered the classroom, the Labor leader had met families in the early years at the school in Ansley.

But the fact that the man who wants to lead the country has chosen the city to launch Labour’s childcare plans signals a clear intention to win back the seat held by the Tories for the past 14 years. For decades the seat of Nuneaton was a Labor heartland.

When asked by CoventryLive why people locally should vote Labour, he said: “What I would say to people who thought they couldn’t vote for us in the past is that we heard you and we changed the labor party. because of what you told us We put the Labor Party back in the service of working people.

“So this is a changed Labor party at this election, this is not the Labor party that we put before them in 2019 and that’s because we heard loud and clear what they were saying. We have come up with a positive plan for the future, the change we need to make, some of the first steps we have already put in place, 40,000 extra hospital appointments to reduce waiting lists – which will make a huge difference to people from here”.

Asked what issues the parents brought up during his visit, he said: “They talked about the lack of early years insurance, the absolute importance of nurseries, they really like the idea of ​​a nursery being based in a school . , which is part of our plan. We had six or seven parents there, at least two of them had older children in the school, so it makes their lives easier.”

He sent a message to voters in the city that they would be listened to if they voted for Labor and candidate Josie Gosling. He said: “They (voters) will have my ear because she will make sure she has my ear and that’s the way it should work.”

“About as big as it gets”

Having the nation’s media pass by on a media bus, as well as the future Prime Minister and Shadow Education Secretary at the school was a moment headteacher Sarah Jeans will never forget. She told CoventryLive that they were asked last Wednesday about welcoming a senior politician to the small but powerful village school, but did not know at the time that it would be the Labor leader.

“That’s about as big as it gets,” she said. “We were so proud to show him around the school.

“They came and met families in our care and that was really positive to show them that, and we talked about early education.

“We serve the communities of Ridge Lane, Birchley Heath and Ansley Common and have struggled to find nursery services for pre-schoolers in this area. It is very much in our interest to ensure that our nursery offer is widely promoted and is increasingly full.”

She said she was investigating taking two-year-olds into the early years as it was “very much needed in the area”. Of Keir Starmer’s presence in the school, the headteacher said: “Year 5 and 6 have been talking about democracy and are really excited about it.”

While the early years class may not have been aware of the people in their presence, she added that it will be something for them to look back on when they are older that they made pirate hats and swapped sea stories with a man who might be in charge. of the country.

Jodie Gosling is the Labor Party candidate for the 4th of July general election. Marcus Jones is the Conservative candidate, Keith Kondakor is the Green Party candidate and Rob Howard is the UK Reform candidate.

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