Natasha Irons is the newly elected Labour MP for Croydon East

Transcript

00:00There's been a big sea change across the country, it looks like. What explains that change?

00:06I think what explains that change is the desire for change in our country. I think people

00:10up and down, when you knock on doorsteps in any single constituency in any part of Britain,

00:16you get that sense that people want change, people want to feel like they can trust decision

00:22makers, they want to feel like their public services work again, they want to feel like

00:25their children will be better off than they are. This was the first government in modern

00:30history where the standard of living was worse at the end of its term than at the beginning,

00:34and people really feel that, and we want to turn that around now.

00:37And you said in your speech how important it is that Labour doesn't squander this opportunity

00:41that it appears to have won. What did you mean by that?

00:44I mean that we need to continue to be a party that puts country first and party second.

00:50We need to be absolutely focused on delivering for people now. People don't want to have

00:54empty promises, they want a decade of national renewal, they want to see a government that

00:58is in their service and is there to make sure that we are focused on the issues that matter

01:03to them.

01:04A seat that a lot of people are interested in just next door, Croydon South, it's never

01:07voted Labour before. How confident are you of seeing a victory there?

01:11I think it's too early to tell just yet. We know that we've run a really great campaign

01:15there. Ben is an outstanding local candidate. He's put in a great amount of effort and would

01:19be a fantastic representative for Croydon South, but it's too soon to tell.