That's the reality of this campaign

This morning we did a walkabout on Kirkcaldy High Street so I could catch up with my constituents and find out the talk of the town. I was pleased to discover we were mostly of one mind; that the most important local contest there will be in May is not whether I am re-elected as Kirkcaldy’s MP on May the 6th, but whether Raith Rovers will be in and able to win the Scottish cup final on May 15th.  

After that we went canvassing in Paxton Crescent in Lochgelly before heading on to the Broad Street Community Centre in Cowdenbeath for a meeting of the Fife Pensioners Forum. The discussion took place in the very room where I was first selected as a Labour candidate for the 1983 election – I was a little less nervous walking in this time...

Then we went to Ochill, the stunningly beautiful constituency of Gordon Banks MP. We had a brilliant discussion in the front room of John and Ann Carty and I was particularly struck by one guest – Netta Martin, who runs a café and take away in Alloa. Her business was under real pressure during the recession, and she saw a big fall in sales of her speciality – rolls with hot sausage (which as she rightly pointed out – should not be confused with her hot sausage rolls). But now that we are on the road to recovery, sales of Netta’s rolls are back on the increase and she is confident her business will grow this year. That’s the reality behind the statistics of the recession and recovery; sales of rolls and sausage in Alloa are up, and Labour’s campaign feels like it’s going in that direction too. That's the reality of this campaign, as I meet people like Netta I can see and feel how Britain is back on the road to recovery. It's stories like hers that make the long hours and tough decisions more rewarding than you could ever imagine.