Sally is campaigning to ensure the UK Climate Change Bill, which is the first Bill of its kind in the world, goes far enough to tackle climate change and to protect our wildlife.

She has helped to set up the Northampton Climate Change Forum with the local Wildllife Trust and run consultations in our town to find out what constituents think. She is now calling on the Government to toughen up the Climate Change Bill and include a clause which will ensure a wildlife expert is on the proposed influential climate committee.

At a local level she has been working with Eaga Patnership to promote the Warm Front scheme – which gives pensioners grants to insulate their homes, thereby saving on energy. She has also been promoting the use of low-energy light bulbs.

Northampton has one of the highest rates of employment in the country: most people are homeowners, lots run small businesses so the state of the economy is crucial. I am a member of the Treasury Select Committee which scrutinises economic policy to ensure the Government continues to deliver a strong, stable economy.

To protect family finances, I have campaigned to improve tax credits and child trust funds. I have also worked with small businesses to remove red tape and improve Government support.

Sound family finances rely on good quality financial services and advice, so I have campaigned for mutual building societies and credit unions, for sound financial regulation, and for more help for people in debt.

Women pensioners still get a raw deal, and my campaigns on pensions have focussed on them.

I worked with young people in the constituency who wanted to see a law against causing death by careless driving – with a prison sentence attached. Working with the young people I lobbied the Government and won a new piece of legislation that brings in “Alexine’e Law” named after the young girl who was killed by a careless driver in Wellingborough.

Overall crime is down 30 per cent since 1997 and the chance of being a victim of crime is at its lowest for 20 years. However, law and order always comes out top in surveys of concerns in Northampton.

Crime and anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping, vandalism, graffiti and binge drinking blights people’s lives, and damages communities.

I always campaign on law and order – pressing the Government for action, helping shape legislation and getting more powers for police. I strongly supported the introduction of police community support officers as a new tier of uniformed officers to patrol our streets.

In 1997, after years of Conservative under-spending, Labour inherited one of the highest rates of child poverty in Europe – with one in three children living in poverty. Since then it has committed itself to ending child poverty by 2010 and I am lobbying hard to make sure this commitment becomes a reality. Already the Labour Government has lifted over half a million children out of relative poverty and over two million out of absolute poverty.

I have campaigned for better housing for families, an end to overcrowding and better standards for families with disabled relatives.

I am also campaigning for more affordable housing for young people, to help them get on the housing ladder, and for help for pensioners with housing problems.

As a mother I know how important our NHS is for the well-being of our families. So I have campaigned to improve our services, to get new and better hospital services and also to oppose cuts in our services.

I have campaigned to make sure that women can get IVF treatment on the NHS – one of my own children was a test tube baby, so I know what it’s like to have problems having a baby.

For the past ten years I have been chair of the Northampton Rail Users Group to get inter-city style train services for Northampton, to get an upgrade of Castle Station in Northampton, and to get more and faster train services for our town.

Following a meeting on Environment policy, I am setting up a Green Forum with a number of community groups in town. This will campaign for green policies, and a greener Northampton.

The AIDS epidemic in Africa has cost millions of lives and left 14 million orphans. I lobby in the House of Commons to ensure that the Government provides more money for these children. I work closely with World Vision which is based just along the M1 in Milton Keynes.

I started a scheme which enables children in our town learn about Africa and help the HIV/Aids orphans. It is called ‘Schools for Africa’ and you can find out more about it by clicking on the photo on the right hand panel. Schools for Africa has gone national and now runs in about 60 schools nationally. It helps children in Tanzania, Kenya and Zimbabwe.