As part of a series setting out all four candidates’ plans for the region, should they be elected as Labour Party leader, Liz Kendall says she can deliver a resurgent North East

THERE are few parts of the country that feel the damage a Tory government does more acutely that the North-East. And with only three Tory MPs in the region, this area will be hit hard by a government few of you voted for.

In the 1980s this region was hit hard by Thatcher’s government. Across the North, communities were ignored as they suffered, unemployment rose and industries withered and died. The Government acted like they didn’t care.

This kind of wrecking by the Tory Party - and the belief that things didn’t always have to be like this - was one of the reasons why I joined the Labour Party and began a lifetime of campaigning to change our country.

I came into politics because I believe the chances you have in life should never be determined by where you were born or what your parents did.

Yet if you grow up in the North-East you have a higher chance of growing up in poverty than the national average. If you work in the North-East your salary is on average lower than in other parts of the country - but you’re also less likely to be employed, because the North-East has by far the highest level of unemployment in the UK.

Labour in government did a great deal for the North-East. There were numerous major regeneration projects and more jobs came to the region - but too often you felt like we took you for granted, banked your loyalty and focussed too much of our energies and attention elsewhere.

The Labour Party I’ll lead won’t do that. The North-East has stayed more loyal to Labour than most parts of the county, but I will never take any Labour voter in the North-East for granted.

This region, like everywhere else, is going through great change. I can understand why many people feeling overwhelmed by everything from job insecurity to globalisation, from poor housing to immigration.

These are all issues we can address by listening to people and being active in their communities.

But we’ll also need to work harder to deliver the training, skilled jobs and investment in early years education that makes a real difference. And we need a private sector recovery in the North-East, not just more public sector jobs. The North-East has the highest proportion of public sector workers in the country - but that leaves too many families livelihoods at risk when budgets are tight and services are cut.

The North-East has a proud industrial tradition of manufacturing and skilled work - and it’s high skill high wage jobs that will deliver more jobs and better wages to the North-East.

That’s what people in the North-East - and across the country - want for themselves and their community. People want to see their families get on, have a decent standard of living, have time for holidays and with loved ones and a secure job with a decent wage.

But Labour can only deliver for the North-East by offering hope, understanding aspiration and by winning in Nuneaton as well as Newcastle. I was brought up in Watford and represent a seat in Leicester - I believe I know what it takes for Labour to win next time.

For that reason, I believe I’m the candidate the Tories fear. If you want to see Labour - and this region - resurgent in the years ahead, I hope you’ll give me your support.