New Labour MP Katie White sets out priorities for Leeds North West constituency including climate and housing
Leeds’ newest MP has set out her priorities in the job, as she described the excitement after being elected with a huge majority.
Katie White, a lifelong climate campaigner, remembers climbing Otley Chevin as a child.
It was perhaps those sweeping vistas of the Wharfe Valley that ignited her passion for the environment, a cause that would ultimately lead to her winning an OBE.
The 43-year-old former civil servant began her career on the edge of politics, working for environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth. She jointly led the campaign for a law which became the Climate Change Act, setting the UK’s target to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
“I was in my 20s, and people were asking how on earth I was going to do it,” she recalled. “They said: don’t be ridiculous, you’re not going to write a new law. But we did it – and it became the fourth most supported motion in parliamentary history.”
Sixteen years later, she told the YEP that the work is not over yet, insisting that climate action will be a focus in the House of Commons.
It has been two weeks since Katie was elected as the Labour MP for Leeds North West. Her result came at the end of a long night in the John Charles Centre for Sport in Middleton.
With almost 23,000 votes, she had more than double the number received by her Tory rival – and a 46 per cent share of the vote.
“It was fantastic,” she said. “We were the last constituency to declare. I didn’t expect it to be so late and we were all looking a little weary, but we were jubilant when we heard the result. I was emotional, but mostly excited and proud to be part of such a fantastic team.”
Her constituency also had the highest turnout in the city, as almost 70 per cent of voters went to the polls in towns including Otley, Guiseley and Adel. It’s a figure that stands out when compared to just over 40 per cent of the electorate in Leeds South, where veteran Labour MP Hilary Benn was re-elected.
In the days since her victory, Katie has been in London embarking on a lengthy induction programme.
She said: “I still feel like I am very much at the start of my journey, but the atmosphere on the Labour side is really vibrant. We’re ready to crack on.”
Katie has also previously worked in the Department of Energy and Climate Change, advising the government ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2009. Four years later, she was awarded an OBE for services to climate change engagement.
“I see climate change as a massive existential threat, but also a huge opportunity – and I want to champion that in Yorkshire,” she said.
“It has been frustrating to watch us miss out on opportunities as a country. A lot of investment in the energy sector goes to the US, and I want us to be getting that.”
Aside from climate change, Katie highlighted public transport and children’s mental health services as areas for improvement in her constituency.
She said: “There are so many instances where younger people just aren’t getting access to the resources that they need. Mental health support in schools is on the agenda and I feel very passionately about that.”
Just hours before Katie’s election success in Leeds North West, the new Chancellor Rachel Reeves was re-elected in the neighbouring constituency of Leeds West and Pudsey.
Setting the tone for the new government, the Chancellor last week announced a raft of planning reforms as part of Labour’s commitment to building 1.5 million homes over the parliamentary term.
She set out how the government would first target brownfield sites for new housing, before considering areas in the so-called “grey belt”, which refers to unattractive or low-quality areas currently designated as green belt land.
Katie said: “We have a housing problem in the UK. People want more homes. We want to balance that need with having homes in the right places. The green belt is sometimes thought of as the most beautiful areas, but they are not always.”
When asked whether she would be in favour of house building accelerating in her constituency, she said: “It is always going to be a balance. I want to make sure we have more homes, because that’s what has been called for.
“But I can’t say to you that it will be a carte blanche. We want to deliver on our promise, but make sure that homes are placed efficiently, effectively and sympathetically. We will be working with Leeds City Council to find where the brownfield and grey belt sites are.”