East Worthing and Shoreham Labour candidate talks ahead of election

Tom Rutland says he grew up hearing about the hardships his parents faced, including his father being unable to afford a school uniform and his mother being discriminated against in the workplace when she was pregnant with him.

But it was the experience he had realising he was gay that spurred him on to want to help others.

“I'd say that I first really switched on to politics when I was growing up and realised that I was gay and felt I wouldn't achieve everything I could or I should because of who I was,” he said.

“It was the worst feeling in the world.

“I've never forgotten that.

“I think life is actually very different now but I've never really forgotten how that felt.

“That feeling is really why I care about politics. I don't want any child to have to feel that way.

“Whether it's because of the colour of their skin, whether they're a boy or a girl, have a disability, how much their parents earn or who they love.”

He was further motivated following the pandemic and the loss of his grandfather.

Tom Rutland at his campaign launch in May (Image: Tom Rutland)

“I was really angry about failures in the pandemic,” he said.

“My grandad died.

“I hadn't seen him for a year in an attempt to keep him and my grandma safe.

“I trained to be a volunteer vaccinator and do all that I could to prevent others having to go through what my family did after so long apart.”

Mr Rutland works in public affairs at Prospect Union, a trade union for workers including engineers, scientists, managers and civil servants. He said it would be an honour to represent the constituency, which he described as a “beautiful place”.

The 32-year-old has made his home in Lancing after he was announced as the Labour candidate in the target seat late last year.

It is expected to be a close battle in the constituency between Labour and the Conservatives, whose candidate Leila Williams stepped in to try to fill the shoes of former MP since 1997 Tim Loughton, who is not contesting the seat this time.

Mr Rutland previously lived in London and was a Lambeth Council councillor for Streatham Common.

“I absolutely love it here,” said Mr Rutland, who was born and raised in Kent.

“I think you will hear arguments in the campaign that only someone who grew up here and has lived here all their life can understand local issues.

“Me and my team have spoken to almost 20,000 voters since I got chosen as the candidate seven months ago. I've met with schools, I've met with businesses, I've met with NHS workers and police officers, so I think I've got a pretty good idea of the issues that are affecting local people.

“I’ve made this place my home. I've been campaigning here for well over a year and have been really working hard.”

Mr Rutland says the biggest issues facing the constituency are the cost-of-living crisis, the NHS, the state of the natural environment and the shortage of school places.

Mr Rutland said the Tories have “crashed the economy” and that people are earning an average of £76 a week less.

Tom Rutland with Labour councillors after winning a majority to gain control of Adur District Council (Image: The Argus)

“I think my focus and Labour’s focus in government will be on delivering economic stability so we never have a repeat of this chaos and we can grow our economy to properly fund our public services and deliver good, well paid jobs and build affordable houses,” he said.

“People can't get a GP appointment, they can't get NHS dentists. They're waiting far too long for operations for cancer treatment and mental health support.”

Mr Rutland said he has heard many “heartbreaking stories” while knocking on doors including a young Paralympic hopeful who waited so long on NHS waiting lists they had to pay to go private to get their prosthetic limb.

“Research that I've done myself has shown people in Southwick have waited 18 minutes for an ambulance when they were in category one, which is the most serious kind of call,” he said.

“And a third of cancer patients locally are waiting longer than two months for treatment after an urgent referral.

“That is a really serious issue and one that I'm really pleased that we've got a strong plan on to cut waiting lists by delivering 2 million additional appointments a year across the country.”

Mr Rutland said further research showed that earlier this year “not a single dentist in the constituency” was taking on new adult NHS patients and “only one” was taking on children.

“That has come up a lot on the doorsteps,” he said.

Mr Rutland has also vowed to hold Southern Water to account over “disgusting” sewage spills.

“I very much support Labour's plans to put the water companies into special measures with severe and automatic fines for illegal discharges,” he said.

“Criminal liability for those at the top and a ban on bonuses for the water bosses until they’ve cleaned up their filth.”

Another issue he says he will champion is that of school place shortages.

“Research I did last year showed that the number of children in West Sussex who haven't been offered a place for any of the schools they applied to has more than doubled since 2010,” he said.

“And that's true also of the number who haven't received their first preference.

“It's a particular issue in parts of Shoreham and it was flagged to West Sussex County Council long in advance that a school's place crisis was coming down the track.”

He accused the West Sussex Conservatives of “sitting on their hands” instead of acting.

“Nothing was done,” he said.

“I really want to see a solution to this mess.

“If I am elected, that will be one of the things I get going on in my very first week because the new school year is rapidly approaching.

“I'm determined to do all I can to find a short- and medium-term solution to this issue.”

Mr Rutland says he wants to bring optimism back to the community and is fighting for every vote.

“I want my community to have its future back,” he said.

“I think there's a real lack of hope and optimism that things can get better.

“I'm really conscious that we've never elected a Labour MP here before.

“We've got to overturn a majority of seven and a half thousand.

“Nothing is in the bag. We're not complacent at all.

“Change will only come to East Worthing and Shoreham if people vote for it.”