“We believe we can turn the country around”

We're joined by Naushabah Khan, new Labour MP for Gillingham and Rainham

Having represented Gillingham South on Medway Council since 2015, Naushabah Khan was elected to represent the Gillingham and Rainham constituency in the 2024 General Election, defeating Rehman Chishti. We met with Naushabah in Starbucks to discuss the election, getting used to life in Parliament, her views on the two-child benefit cap and the Winter Fuel Allowance, and restoring trust in politics.

Naushabah Khan MP

What is your memory of election night?
Oh gosh, it seems like a long time ago now. It was really exciting. Although I was locked away in a room with my colleagues who were also standing in the election, the other Medway MPs, so we weren't at the count for a long time. We were having to watch things from afar. But it was incredible. I remember feeling really, really nervous when the exit poll came out because, obviously, we'd had all the rumours with the polls and so on, but to see that come to fruition and the reality of what the situation potentially could be was quite different. I remember when that exit poll came out. I was watching it at Twydall Labour Club, and all of us cheered. But then it came down to the individual results. I will never forget it as such, but equally, some of it feels a little bit blurry. But yeah, a huge moment in my life.

Was there any point, whilst campaigning and monitoring the polls, when you felt confident you had won?
I don't think I ever felt confident because I've been in politics a long time, and I've learned that you should never take anything for granted. You can't just assume that what you think will happen will happen, and there were lots of results across the country that showed that. However, what I did feel was it was the best chance I've had for a long time, but you just didn't know. It's hard to tell sometimes when you're speaking to lots and lots of people exactly what journey things are going to take, and particularly in a seat like Gillingham and Rainham where it is marginal, you will get people voting for lots of different parties and sometimes you're not able to see how that result will pan out.

Since the election, have you had any conversation or handover from the previous MP for Gillingham and Rainham?
No, I have not. I have seen him in Parliament, but I have not had a handover.

What are your thoughts on the voter turnout for the election?
Of course, it's disappointingly low and lower than you'd like. I think there is that bigger question around our politics more generally. When I was out on the doors, there were lots of people who certainly wanted a change. Lots of people were coming over to Labour. Lots of people who were going to also vote Reform for the first time, who had previously voted Conservative. But there was also a number of people who said, we’re fed up, we're frustrated, and we're going to sit on our hands. There's a wider point around our politics about what that means and how we change that. I'm hoping that if we can start to turn this country around and show the difference that politics can make in a positive way, there'll be those people who will see the value of democracy again. But we've got to be careful with this. I'm a historian, and I've studied through the years how things change and what happens. Some of the biggest world events we've seen are when people start to lose faith in our democratic systems. It's something we need to think about carefully, and that I touched upon in my maiden speech about that sense of hope and how we get that back into people.

When we last spoke you worked for St Mungo's. When did you leave there?
I left St Mungo's back in March, prior to the election being called, because I realised that it was becoming very difficult to be a parliamentary candidate at the time. I was also a cabinet member and also working a full-time job in a quite exciting but busy job. I took the decision in March to stand down and focus fully on the campaign. At that time, I didn't know when the election was going to be, so I was hoping that it would happen relatively quickly. Otherwise, I would have had to get another job, of course, because it's very difficult to sustain financially. But it seemed to happen before the summer, and I think I was the only person saying that. Lots of people didn't believe me when I was like, I just feel it because I guess saying you feel it in your bones is not really (laughs) credible.

Were you surprised when it was called for July?
It's really hard to explain, but I just had this gut feeling that it would be, and I kept on saying it. Lots of people were saying no, absolutely not and then when the Prime Minister at the time, Rishi Sunak, ruled it out quite early on and said it would be in November, October, that was still the date. Then I had some people saying to me it might be January 2025. I wouldn't necessarily say it was a shock that it was called before July because I think it was like a lone wolf saying, ‘It's going to be before August’. However, I hadn't really planned for the day that it was called. I wasn't expecting it to happen at that moment. There had been a few false alarms previous to that and they hadn't come to fruition. The day it was called, I was actually on my way to Leeds for a conference. I was on the journey up, and as I was getting on the train. I was off to speak at a housing conference about housing and homelessness at UKREiiF. When I was looking at my phone, I could see these messages coming through on Twitter from other people. As the train was getting further and further away from Gillingham and Medway, and it was going past Doncaster (laughs), I was like, ‘I think an election's about to be called.’ What I had to do was get off at Leeds station, buy a return ticket back and get on the next train back. It wasn't how I'd expected.

How long was there between the result of the election night and you officially going to Parliament?
A couple of days. We were elected on the Thursday with the result coming through on a Friday, as is always the case. The Friday was a bit of a surreal. I did get a chance to see the Kaiser Chiefs at the Castle Concerts. We were allowed to go in over the weekend, and they suggested that we go in on the Sunday to get our inductions done, pick up materials, equipment, all of these sorts of things, sign papers, passes, etc. It happened very quickly. I think I was just fuelling myself on adrenaline and sugar. It was just like coffee, really sugary coffee and adrenaline. But it was quite exciting.

When you read memoirs of MPs, as some of us do, there's always a horror story the first time you go to work at Parliament because of the nature of the building and like trying to find your office. Was it like that for you?
I've worked in Parliament in the past. I have a bit of a lay of the land, and I know what it looks like and how it operates, whereas I think there were some new MPs who hadn't even been there before, so a completely different experience. The very first day I went, there was much more of an induction, and we were supported and guided because there were so many new MPs. You're not on your own, and that makes a big difference. You can tell who the new MPs are because they're all walking around like a lost sheep. I didn't have an office. I only just got given an office a few weeks ago in Parliament. For a lot of it, you're just walking around trying to work out where the toilets are. If you've ever been in a parliamentary estate, it's an amazing building and you can feel how important it is and the democracy that happens there. But equally, it's a bit of a maze. You've got this really old part of the building with lots of formalities, and then you've got this other half of the building, which is quite new and modern, but still, it's made to look like wooden panelling. Everything is hidden behind a wooden door, and most of the time, I was just opening doors to cupboards and things like that. I'm still not quite used to it, so maybe ask me that question again in a couple of months, and I'll probably have lots more stories because there's something new every day.

Is there anything about being an MP you wish you'd known in advance?
The fact that you're not allowed to wear trainers in the chamber. That's always good to know. If I'm honest, I've been around the world of politics for so long, I've sort of experienced it and seen it, but there is definitely a steep escalation in just the level of attention that you get when you say something. The exposure that you get is different to being a councillor, very different to being a councillor. That is a transition that you have to go through. It's not necessarily that you didn't know that, but I think when you're experiencing it and you're in the midst of it, it's quite an intense experience. I'm still learning, and I suspect there will be things that happen in months to come that I will say, ‘I wish someone had told me that.’

There have been two contentious votes (on the two-child benefit cap and the Winter Fuel Allowance) since you came into government. Could you talk to us about it as an individual representative and as a member of the ruling party?Yes, so both of those things have been really difficult decisions that the government has had to take. The two-child benefit I've always said I support the end of. I don't agree with the cap, and we should get rid of it. It's a really difficult state of affairs and I think Labour always said this during the election campaign. We can talk about change, we can talk about all of these things, but this is not going to be an easy or simple or quick process. It's going to take time. We believe we can turn the country around. There are things that we can do differently, and we've already started doing those. There’re some really positive things that have already happened under this government in a very, very short space of time. But there's also going to be some tough stuff that needs to happen.
On the first one, on the two-child benefit cap, I've always said I disagreed with it, but the scale of the challenge we faced financially, it just wasn't possible to turn that around at this particular moment. We did seek a lot of reassurances with the front bench, and a lot of that does happen. It's not that there isn't any scope to raise concerns or ask questions or try and understand or say, ‘This is what my constituents are saying.’ Those conversations are happening all the time and everything that I have been made aware of during the election campaign when it came to the two-child benefit cap, I was very comfortable talking to the front bench about prior to the vote. The big thing that we have on that is ensuring that there are lots of things that we're looking to do as a government which will hopefully eradicate child poverty just as it did when Labour were in power before. I really hope that we can revisit the cap if it is necessary to do so because we have seen some of the data around it at a later stage, but it just wasn't possible at this point. I can say to you these aren't comfortable votes to take, but you've got to look at what you're presented with and the facts and base it on recognising that being in power is not simple, and you've got to take some tough calls.
Firstly, on the Winter Fuel Allowance, just for clarity, I wasn't in the country at the time that the vote was taken. I was in Ukraine, and I was travelling back. I hadn't known that the vote on the Winter Fuel Allowance would be scheduled for then because it was a long-standing arrangement that was in place. And so, when the Parliamentary Business was agreed, I'd already been paired with another MP, so I couldn't be in the chamber. But for clarity, I believe the Winter Fuel Allowance should be means tested. It doesn't seem fair that millionaires are eligible for the same allowance as people on pension credits. It doesn't make sense, given the context of the financial challenges that we face. I get that this is a very emotive vote. It's had a lot of people writing in and speaking up against it. But I think the means-testing element of that is important. Anyone on pension credit is still eligible for a Winter Fuel Allowance. I think it's really important to get that across because I have seen reports where people have suggested it's just disappeared completely, and that's not accurate.
All of that said, I do have a concern, and people have contacted me about the potential for some people who are in the middle of all of that. I speak to residents who said to me, ‘Well, we give ours to charities, and we've always given it to charity’. One gentleman came up to me on the street the other day, and he said, ‘Oh, I can't believe you've got rid of the Winter Fuel Allowance.’ And I said, ‘Well, look, it's been a really challenging time.’ I had the conversation with him, not that he was too interested in hearing it. I said to him, ‘However, there are other support channels available, and as an MP, I'm really keen to work with you to see if you need that support, if we can get that elsewhere.’ And he said, ‘Well, I don't need it’. He said to me, ‘I'm not going to come cap in hand asking for benefits.’ I was like, ‘Do you want my team to work with you to see what you're eligible for?’ Because there's lots of people that aren't claiming what they're eligible for, particularly around pension tax credits and so on and he said to me ‘Well no, I don't believe in going cap in hand to government’. They don't even see the Winter Fuel Allowance as a benefit because it's universal, and I get that, but I think it also shows the issue in the system.
Now that said, I am really keen to make sure no one falls through the gap. So, I've said look we need to carry on having conversations about this again. The same thing was happening in Parliament. There were a lot of conversations with the front bench. I know a number of MPs who were very keen to make sure that the views of their constituents were heard. I've also set up, and the council are also going to do this, drop-ins for people who are genuinely concerned that they might fall through that gap. They're not eligible for pension tax credit, but they might not have enough winter fuel this year. Pensions are due to increase in line with the triple lock, which we're protecting. However, in the gap between those going up in April, we just want to make sure there's nobody that's adversely impacted. We are having those conversations and anyone who needs support. Come along, and we will first of all check that you're definitely not eligible for these pension credits because some people are and just don't realise what other support networks are available for you to make sure that there aren't any issues. I do think the system needed reform, it's just about how we manage that process now.
The other thing is, at the end of the day, if we don't get control of the country's finances, we're going to be seeing record levels of inflation as we've done so in the last few years and some other real challenges, which are going to hit everybody, including pensioners. Part of the reason why we've had so much debate about this is because the state of affairs has got so bad. Once things start stabilising the economy, I think people will feel better off, but it is a journey. If anyone's got concerns, and they're my constituents, just get in touch and we'll do what we can to help. It was a very long answer, but I felt it was important to explain.

What stage are you at in terms of hiring support staff and opening up your constituency office?
I have a full staff team in my constituency office now, who are helping me get through the backlog of casework. Because you can imagine what happened. I became an MP, I had no idea what I was doing. I suddenly had to go to Westminster and start thinking about some really big important decisions that the government has to take, but at the same time, people who need support are writing to you as an MP, and it's just you there, still trying to work out how to manage everything and the inbox was growing day in and day out. The last few months have been tough in terms of just being able to manage and get things in place because, obviously, where you've had MPs in place for 14 years with all those structures set up, I'm having to start from scratch. I have asked people for a little bit of understanding around that, and obviously urgent case work has been dealt with.

Where is your office?
I don't have one yet. I'm still in the process of finding one. It's a virtual office at the moment. At the minute, we're just all working, and again, this is not sustainable. I do want to have a physical office, but all my staff are working, supporting and dealing with all the issues that we've got, helping people where they can as much as we can. I'm really keen to get an office as soon as possible, but I'm ideally looking for a Gillingham location, and it's not proving easy. There's a few options that I'm looking at the minute, but that's probably been one of the toughest things because you're responsible for everything. The business rates, finding the office location, the rent and then also the setup, and you have to manage that as an MP’s office yourself, as well as all the hiring of your staff, the adverts etc. There is support available through IPSA but it's this whole layer of administration that I think I hadn't really registered when I first got elected. It's taking a bit longer than I'd like.

It's been an extraordinary 18 months between the local elections and the General Elections. Is there anything you miss about opposition?
No (laughs). No, not at all. Opposition is the worst on all fronts because you're desperate to make change, and there's just no way to make that change and get things through. Having started off as an opposition councillor and having also stood in parliamentary elections and lost, I can tell you there is nothing greater than having the opportunity to make that change that you want. Of course, with power and being the administration, whether that's at council level or government level, it's tough. You've got to be responsible for what you're doing. It's not easy. You've got to make really, really difficult decisions. The only thing I will say is that in opposition, it's quite easy to be able to criticise. You have the luxury of saying whatever it is that you want. Whereas when you're in power, you've really got to think about everything that you're presented with, the challenges that you've got, because every decision you make will have an impact. You've also got to be able to be comfortable in talking about why you did things a certain way and talking about why you've taken that decision, and be accountable to your constituents as well. It is very different, but I wouldn't swap it.

Given the amount of distrust felt towards politicians in recent years, what can you do to restore trust in elected MPs?
I think it is really important to rebuild the trust in our politics. That has been damaged over the last few years, particularly with some of the scandals we have seen over covid contracts and behaviour towards the parties that happened whilst people were at home and socially distanced. It feels as though our politics haven’t worked for a while and people haven’t felt the benefit of that. For me, it is so important that we get this right, and the biggest difference is not making promises that you cannot keep. During the election, I was really clear that we have huge challenges ahead in our community, and it will not be possible to fix that overnight. I will always approach that with transparency and honesty. I am going to campaign on the issues we talked about during the election, and I have already started that with the work on ‘Love Gillingham’ for example. The work that is happening around the town centre, that was an election pledge I was very clear about as an MP in my community. I have always been clear I am going to be open and honest and present and accessible. We may not agree on everything, and there will be tough decisions. I understand that people may ask me why I have taken a particular decision, but I will always approach that with honesty. I think it is really important to set that out because it is very easy to play into the politics of populism when things feel tough, but that is not what good political leadership is about and it is not something I am going to play into.

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Footnotes

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity and was originally published on Local Authority, our Medway-based title.