Call for General Election

Amanda Martin Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward.

I thank the Petitions Committee for this debate, and I thank those who engaged and signed the petition. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury), I always look at the petitions that come into this place, because they are a way for the public to raise their voice and set an agenda here. Like him, I can understand why people signed this petition. I will address that today because, like my hon. Friend the Member for Hitchin (Alistair Strathern), I am concerned about the rise of public mistrust in our politics and politicians—be that at a local or national level—and their ability to achieve positive change. Let me be clear, though: another general election is not the answer. People want long-term development and delivery, not political games.

We are now 18 months into this parliament, and we inherited a mess. I like to think about it in a pictorial way, seeing it as a desolate and broken kitchen. Plates were piled high, some lay smashed on the floor and some were empty. Some cupboard doors were falling off, and some of the cupboards were empty. The justice cupboard was overflowing with victims waiting for their day in court. The education cupboard was empty, having been neglected because trying to fix anything was felt to be a lose-lose-lose situation. The growth cupboard had been abandoned, while the NHS cupboard had just fallen apart and was lying on the floor. The bottle inside the defence cupboard was open and the liquid was spilling down on to the floor, as people and contracts were left. Worst of all, the child poverty cupboard was empty, as were many kids’ stomachs.

We have been in office for 18 months since inheriting that mess. Fourteen years of Conservative failure hollowed out our public services. The Conservative-Lib Dem coalition lit the fuse, and the damage was done in the years afterwards. Cities such as Portsmouth paid the price. Communities, families and individuals absorbed the shock, while those who were responsible simply walked away.

Those who were involved do not get to pretend that that was not their doing. Opposition Members should reflect on their role and not just brush it aside. Then there is Reform, which is a party of grievance, not Government, propped up by failing Conservatives who keep joining it—they could not win honestly, so they changed their logo instead. They are not fighting for Portsmouth or Britain; they are fighting for relevance. Many of my constituents can see through that.

I am not a commentator; I represent and serve my city. Before I came into this House, I spent 24 years as a teacher in Portsmouth—one of the most trusted professions in the country. I worked with children, families and school staff every day, and I saw how bad decisions in Westminster landed in real lives. Indeed, that is the reason why I came into politics. In my opinion, the previous Government trashed primary education and gave up on our young people.

That experience, as well as seeing my own friends and family suffer, shapes everything I do in this place. Progress must be practical, fair and deliverable, or it is meaningless. I represent Portsmouth. I live and have lived its challenges. Since being elected, I have spoken over 170 times in this place, for my place. My team and I have closed more than 9,000 constituency cases. I have visited schools, businesses, charities and community groups week in and week out, from Brownies to breweries, and from bubble tea cafés to boxing clubs. That is what service looks like.

Sometimes, there are tough conversations and real difficulties, but because we are focused on delivering change, change is happening, although positive change takes time. However, the two-child limit on universal credit is being removed, helping 2,460 children in my area, 60% of whose families are working. Breakfast clubs are feeding children for free before school, youth hubs are opening, children are being protected from online harms, school uniform costs are falling and wages are rising. Renters’ and workers’ rights are improving as we scrap exploitative zero-hours contracts and section 21 no-fault evictions. NHS waiting times are coming down, while GP capacity is expanding and dental access is being addressed. For the first time ever, violence against women and girls is being addressed, and men’s health—

[John Lamont]

The hon. Lady is giving a list of her Government’s achievements in Portsmouth North. In her constituency, youth unemployment is up. Will she add that to the list as well?

[Amanda Martin]

We will add it to the list. We need to ensure that children and young people who are not in education, employment or training are not neglected by the Government—and they will not be.

Men’s health is finally being taken seriously. There is money for potholes, parks and policing. Pride in place funding is reaching deprived and previously ignored communities, like where my mum and dad were born, in Paulsgrove and beyond. Many of those policies, the Opposition voted against; if they had been in Government, we would not have had them.

Portsmouth is also a royal naval city. I am proud that my son serves, and that this Government are delivering the biggest armed forces pay rise in decades. Service families’ homes are improving, families can keep pets now and veterans have proper joined-up support through Op Valour. It is delivery, and not slogans, for our armed forces.

Brexit hurt Pompey businesses, and the damage was real. We now need to rebuild trade and trust, as we are doing. The India trade agreement alone will bring £300 million a year into the south-east, and investment in defence and apprenticeships is helping to make life more stable for young people who are out of employment.

For many in our city, it is a far cry from the days when shipbuilding was snatched from us under the previous Government and replaced with three useless Portsmouth Ministers. Portsmouth is receiving £13.1 million for safer streets, cleaner streets, improved bus services, better cycling and vital flood defences for our island city, to name just a few things.

I am especially proud of my own tool theft campaign, in which I led a movement of local tradespeople and national bodies. Despite recent noise from the Opposition Benches, before I was elected, politicians ignored this crime and, in fact, this sector. But tool theft destroys lives, and we know that the trade sector builds homes. We worked with the sector and changed the law. That is what happens when people in Government listen and act.

Do we have more to do? Absolutely we do, always, but in the last 18 months, I, and we as a Government, have listened, learned and delivered. Change works when it is built with communities, not imposed on them. That is why calls for an immediate general election ring hollow. Accountability matters, and chaos does not. My constituents know that life is hard, but they also know who is showing up and who is shouting from the sidelines. The country does not need more noise; it needs people who serve where they live, take responsibility, and get on with the job.

I thank the residents of Portsmouth North who signed this petition, and I assure them that my door is always open. I understand the frustration and the anger, but I encourage them to come along to the coffee mornings, join me for one of my “pint with your MP” events, or attend one of my many public events. I am here to listen and help, and to deliver for Portsmouth North, because it has not been delivered for in the last two decades. Today and tomorrow—and as long as I am here in this place—it is important to me to do that. Everybody I love lives in my city.

Petitions are an important part of our democracy, but this debate will not build a single home, fix a single struggling public service or help a single family in my city. My focus is on delivery, not disruption. I serve Portsmouth and will keep doing this job. We have far more in common than what divides us.