Labour's South East MPs know they 'need to deliver'

East Thanet MP Polly Billington says the region has a 'housing crisis'

Labour stormed to victory in the general election this summer, but MPs at the party's conference in Liverpool know they will need to deliver on their promises to hold on to power, BBC South East political editor Charlotte Wright says.

For years there has not been a huge amount to say about politics in the South East of England.

Ok, maybe that is a slight exaggeration. But certainly each election since 2010 has left the Parliamentary political map largely the same: dominated by the Conservatives.

The general election in July changed that. Now, Labour has 11 MPs in Kent and a whole swathe along the Sussex coast.

As these MPs gather in Liverpool for their party conference, they are reflecting on their success and planning for their time in power.

So how did they get here? And what next?

In the lead up to the election, Labour picked the seats to focus on that they thought they might have a chance in.

They selected their candidates early and ruthlessly targeted places like Hastings and Dover.

So intense was the campaign in these parts that one person I met before the election in Dover thought the Labour candidate was already the MP.

'Crying out for change'

In the end, the outcome was better than they hoped, and they picked up constituencies that they had not even really contemplated or campaigned in, such as Ashford and Folkestone.

There was one clear reason for those wins, claims the new Folkestone MP Tony Vaughan.

“People were just crying out for change," he said.

"We had a situation where you had a Conservative MP in there since the late 1800s, so there was a feeling that things couldn’t change, I think.

“But it had got to a point with public services not working, just regular things that people need for their day-to-day lives not working, roads not working, GP services...

"I think people just said they’d had enough."

'People were just crying out for change' said Folkestone MP Tony Vaughan

It is now up to him - and his party - to deliver.

“I’m getting emails already saying 'you promised to do X – where’s the change?'" he said.

“I’m absolutely focused on making sure the practical change that Labour’s promising at the national level filters down to the constituency so that people really see that their lives are better.”

'Effective immigration system'

South East MPs agree that tackling the cost of living and addressing public services are the main priorities for the party.

But there are other issues that matter to voters in the region too.

Mike Tapp, the Dover MP, says Labour needs to deliver on its promises when it comes to immigration.

Reform UK came second in his constituency - a party which made small boat Channel crossings a central election issue.

Dover MP Mike Tapp says Labour needs to deliver on its promises over immigration

He said: “We’ve got to have an effective immigration system… Labour will secure the borders - and we take this issue really seriously - and that will reach over to those that are voting on immigration."

But he stressed that his party had a different approach to Reform UK.

“We do want to secure the borders. That’s vital. But at the same time we don’t attack those who are seeking a better life.

"Instead, we’ll take on the smuggling gangs and those who are exploiting people," he said.

With more than 10,000 small boat arrivals since Labour took office, the scale of the challenge is huge.

'We have a housing crisis'

Outside the conference centre in Liverpool is a two-storey house, temporarily installed for the event by a group aiming to develop ultra-low-carbon housing across the city.

It's a clear reminder of another big issue that the party is grappling with.

The MP for East Thanet, Polly Billington, said we had a housing "crisis".

"I have spoken to too many people who are still in their childhood bedrooms, now in their 30s, because they can't afford to have a home either to rent or to buy," she said.

"That needs to change and that is why we have committed to building homes."

'Prices continue to spiral'

The government has pledged to tackle a shortage of housing by building on parts of the green belt that it calls the "grey belt", but that is likely to be controversial in areas of Surrey and Kent where there is already opposition to development.

Ms Billington said Labour's policy would be brownfield first.

"We also know that a lot of land that is technically green belt is not green at all," she said.

Is she worried about introducing a potentially controversial policy turning voters away from the party in the region?

She said: "What's going to be controversial is to continue with a housing crisis, with prices continuing to spiral... that is what a Labour government is going to change."

Policies aside, it has been a bumpy start to government, with reported rows among senior staff in Number 10 and controversy around freebies.

Over coffees at the conference, Labour figures in the South East told me this is all a frustrating distraction. The party’s focus now, they said, needs to be on making good their promises.

Or else the region’s map may well change colour again in five years’ time.