In March 2020 I received many hundreds of emails every day from people across Sevenoaks and Swanley who didn’t know what to do. Many couldn’t go to work. Children weren’t at school. Lives and livelihoods were turned upside down overnight. However, the biggest worry in my inbox came from people with jobs and the businesses who employed them.
As the global economy froze and a deep depression with mass unemployment seemed inevitable. Rishi Sunak designed and implemented, in a matter of days, the furlough scheme. This supported and saved 11.6 million jobs and ensured the sharpest recess for 300 years saw the smallest rise in unemployment of any recession in living memory. He also introduced support grants, a temporary VAT cut, and business rates relief to help over one and a half million businesses keep afloat. These necessary steps saved so many jobs and helped pay the mortgages and rent for many local families.
Immensely difficult times still lie ahead. Rising prices are biting and we need a Prime Minister who has experience of these issues at the highest level of government. Someone who has proved they can tackle them before and has the vision to steer our country forward. This is why I am supporting Rishi Sunak in his bid to be our next Conservative leader, and Prime Minister.
I am very glad that both Liz and Rishi visited Sevenoaks last week - it is a testament to how brilliant and important our area is.
As a Conservative Party, we have been fortunate to have so many talented and experienced candidates put themselves forward. I have been pleased the debates surrounding the contest have been policy focused, and I hope both sides run positive campaigns, setting out what they can offer the country if they were to win. However, whoever wins one thing is clear; both candidates will undoubtedly be a stronger leader for this country than Keir Starmer and Ed Davey, who don’t have any answers to the serious economic and geopolitical issues facing this country. Rishi Sunak has stepped up before when the country needed him. He is the right man for the job. And I hope he will now be allowed to step up once again so that he can restore trust and rebuild the economy.
