The five top issues you want new Southampton MPs to sort out

On Friday, July 5, Satvir Kaur was elected to represent Labour for Southampton Test, succeeding the party's previous MP Alan Whitehead.

Prior to being elected as MP, Satvir served as leader of Southampton City Council from May 2022 to December 2023, becoming the first Sikh leader of a local authority in Britain.

Labour's Darren Paffey – who served as deputy leader on the council before this year’s general election – won the Southampton Itchen seat from outgoing Tory MP Royston Smith.

The Echo asked readers what the top five issues they wanted to solve in the city were - and here's what Satvir and Darren had to say.

Q. How will you help tackle the cost-of-living crisis?

Satvir Kaur, MP for Southampton Test: “For too long Southampton families have been struggling under the Conservative’s cost of living crisis.

“I’ll help push through Labour’s plans to tackle this, from raising the minimum wage into a real living wage that people can live off, to launching Great British energy to bring household bills down.

“Free breakfast clubs in local schools, will also make a huge difference to parents I spoke to throughout the campaign.

“We also have amazing local organisations and charities who do great work, and I look forward to working with them, so these plans are maximised locally.”

Darren Paffey, MP for Southampton Itchen: “The economy has been in stasis while the chaos of a Tory government dragged on.

“Now with the general election returning a Labour government, there will be more economic stability and we can get going on measures that will grow the British economy again.

“Key measures that Labour will start work on include setting up Great British Energy, a publicly-owned clean power company that will help cut people's energy bills; the same drive for green energy will create good, well-paid jobs and I'll be campaigning for those jobs to be based in Southampton.

“Labour's New Deal for Working People will strengthen job security and ensure fair pay to help people get by better than these last few years.”

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Q. It’s become harder to drive around Southampton due to constant ongoing roadworks, will you be able to fix the city’s roads once and for all?

Satvir Kaur, Southampton Test MP (Image: Newsquest)

Satvir Kaur: “However you get around Southampton, it should be made easier, cheaper and more accessible.

“I’ll continue to work with the council to ensure any schemes are being done efficiently with minimal disruption.

“Longer-term, I believe Southampton would benefit from better public transport, from more frequent buses to cheaper rail.

“This is something I will push for, alongside ‘river buses’, something that I am already working on with local businesses.”

Darren Paffey: “People ask for roads to be repaired and to be safer, so the only way of achieving that is to have roadworks, and with more cars on the road then the wear and tear will be greater, that's just a fact.

“But the underlying point is that there have been a lot of roadworks going on at the same time and there's a reason for that: councils are underfunded, so have had to rely on competing for money from Whitehall who then dictate the timetable of when those roadworks have to be done. 

“I'll be asking government to reach better funding settlements for councils so they can plan ahead better, and I'll be asking the council to avoid so much going on at once.”

Q. How will you fight against pollution and the dumping of sewage in the River Itchen?

Satvir Kaur: “The levels of sewage being dumped into our local waterways is disgusting.

“I’ll continue to work with local community groups, to ensure that together we put an end to the Tory sewage scandal.

“From pushing for local bathing water status, to more national regulation and stronger powers to stop water companies like Southern Water from polluting our rivers.

“Southern Water have a poor track record, and I’m committed to holding them to account.”

Darren Paffey, Southampton Itchen MP (Image: Newsquest) Darren Paffey: “Labour has a clear plan to make failing water companies clean up their toxic mess with tough fines which they can't ignore, and we will put those in place shortly.

“I'll be meeting with Southern Water bosses to see what their action plan is for stopping the sewage scandal in the River Itchen, and getting this going immediately.

“I'm going to work to get designated bathing status for the River Itchen, which would mean it has to meet stringent levels of cleanliness and would be closely (and independently) monitored.

“We need to give local people peace of mind that it the river is safe and end the stench we all have to put up with.”

Q. How do you plan on tackling crime in our communities?

Satvir Kaur: “Everyone deserves to feel safe in their home and neighbourhood.

“Labour have pledged more police officers, and I’ll push to ensure Southampton gets its fair share.

“Tackling knife crime is a huge priority for the new Labour government, and I’ll work with Hampshire Constabulary to ensure we are maximising on new measures coming in, to benefit us here locally.

“Retail crime is also very high in Southampton, and I will help push through Labour’s plan to make abuse to shop-workers a standalone offence, but also end the preserve £200 limit before you can get prosecuted, which as we have seen locally, has only attracted criminals.

“This must end, and I’m committed to working hard so we can tackle this head on.”

Darren Paffey: “I'm concerned about the state of policing in Southampton, and people I speak to who are suffering crime are finding it impossible to get the police out to investigate, or to charge perpetrators because there simply aren't enough officers.

“So, Labour's plan is to recruit more police officers and PCSOs (13,000 nationally) which will help that situation, and my intention is to make sure that Southampton gets its fair share of those.

“I'll be getting early meetings with the Chief Constable as well as the Police & Crime Commissioner to discuss what needs to happen.

“Crucially, we need to prevent crime in the first place, and Labour plans a network of Youth Futures Hubs so I want to see this happen in Southampton's communities to provide better mental health support and outreach services for children and young people.”

Q. How do you plan to prioritise the next generation, in terms of education and children’s services?

Satvir Kaur: “Parents I spoke to on the doorstep are rightly hugely ambitious for their children.

“I am committed to working hard to ensure every child gets the best start in life.

“This includes free breakfast clubs in every primary school, but also schools having the right support, infrastructure and teachers they need so our children can thrive.”

Darren Paffey: “One of our key missions as a Labour government is to break down the barriers of opportunity that have arisen in Tory Britain, and this is especially important for me as someone who grew up in foster care and ended up running Children's Services in Southampton.

“Starting in the earliest years, we'll see new investment in top-class teaching staff, and better retention of our experienced teachers.

“To help every child be ready to learn, free breakfast clubs will open in every Southampton primary school.

“Labour will be reviewing the entire school curriculum and I want to play my part in ensuring it is as broad, practical and inspiring as it can be for future generations.

“Locally, I'm going to be bringing together the city's education and business leaders to develop a 'passport' of practical skills for every child in our schools, to inspire them and give them an insight into the huge range of opportunities that exist here in the city that they might never normally hear about or get to take part in.

“I support Labour's policy to reform apprenticeships and develop key skills through Technical Excellence Colleges which will be really beneficial here.”