Five days ago, I made a decision I had thought about for a very long time. I joined the Labour Party.
For some people, joining a political party might seem like a relatively straightforward decision. For me, it represented something more personal.
I have spent much of my life trying to make a positive contribution to communities through entertainment, the arts and fundraising. I have been fortunate to receive recognition for that work, including the British Citizen Award for Services to the Arts and a Prime Minister’s Points of Light award, but I reached a point where I felt I couldn’t simply stand on the sidelines and watch politics happen around me. I needed to get involved.
I live in Davyhulme, in Urmston, within Trafford Council, and part of that feeling came from what happened locally.
Reform won a council seat in my area. The councillor won his seat, replacing the Labour seat holder, by only eleven votes. He was then subsequently arrested in connection with an allegation involving the carrying of a dangerous weapon. I found the situation deeply upsetting, particularly because this was someone elected to represent my community.
I believe that anyone elected to public office carries a responsibility to the people they represent, regardless of their political party. It made me think seriously about the kind of politics I wanted to see in my own area, so I decided I needed to step up. I wanted to support Labour locally, but more importantly, I wanted to do something positive for the community I live in.
Since joining, everything has moved rather quickly. I received a lovely welcome from the leader of Trafford Council who introduced to the two Labour councillors in my area. It immediately made the experience feel personal. I wasn’t simply becoming a membership number. I was being welcomed by people who are already working every day on behalf of our community.
Then came my first ever canvassing session. I just missed the latest canvassing event in my area of Davyhulme so I joined the Urmston Labour councillors and went out around the area, knocking on doors and speaking to residents, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
What struck me most was that canvassing isn’t simply about asking people for their vote. It’s about listening. Residents spoke to us about potholes, overhanging trees and concerns about anti social behaviour, including young people using scooters and e bikes.
These issues can sometimes sound relatively minor when discussed in the abstract. But standing on someone’s doorstep and hearing how something affects their street, their home or their daily life gives those issues a completely different perspective. It also made me think about the pressures facing local government.
It is very easy to look at a pothole, an overgrown area or a problem that hasn’t been dealt with and simply ask why the council hasn’t fixed it. But councils can only spend the money they have. If local government doesn’t have sufficient resources, councillors and council officers are forced to make difficult choices about where limited funding goes. Main roads may understandably receive priority, while smaller residential streets can sometimes feel neglected.
For me, one of the clearest lessons from that first day was that properly funding local government matters. More resources reaching councils could make a genuine difference to people’s everyday lives. It could mean better maintained roads and public spaces, more responsive services and greater capacity to tackle problems that residents see every day.
Perhaps the biggest thing I have learned already is that politics is about people. It isn’t just Westminster, Parliament, or political arguments on television or social media. Politics is also the person who opens their front door and tells you about the pothole outside their house, the resident worried about overhanging trees and the parent concerned about anti social behaviour. It’s the person who simply wants their street to feel safe, clean and properly looked after. That is the politics I want to be involved in.
I’ve spent much of my working life in entertainment, performing, hosting, creating television formats and working in an industry whose fundamental purpose is to bring people together.
I’ve also spent years fundraising and supporting good causes. Those experiences have taught me that meaningful change rarely happens from a distance. It happens when people decide to get involved and do something. So, I’m now discovering another way of bringing people together: listening to the people who live around me. I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I’m brand new to party politics and I have a great deal to learn, but perhaps that is precisely why I am enjoying this so much. I’m listening, learning, meeting people and I’m getting involved.
My first experience of canvassing has made me realise that if you genuinely want to understand a community, you have to get out into it. You have to knock on the doors, listen to the concerns, hear the frustrations and you also have to hear what people love about where they live.
I joined Labour because I felt I needed to step up. My first week has shown me that there is a lot to do, a lot to learn and a lot of people worth listening to.
I’ve spent years trying to serve communities through the arts and fundraising. Now I want to bring that same spirit of service into my local community. I’m only at the beginning of this journey but I’m already loving it and I’m ready to play my part.
Wayne Devlin is the founder of Devlin Entertainment Ltd and a television format creator who has spent much of his career in entertainment, television and live performance. He is a recipient of the British Citizen Award for Services to the Arts and has also been recognised as a Points of Light recipient by the Prime Minister for his contribution to his community. Through his work in the arts and fundraising, Wayne has helped raise substantial sums for good causes. He is a new Labour Party member living in Davyhulme, Urmston, within Trafford, Greater Manchester, and has recently begun volunteering and canvassing in his local community.
