Labour cabinet member and parliamentary candidate for Rochester and Stood, Cllr Lauren Edwards decided she wasn’t interested in criticising from the sidelines and has stepped into the world of politics.

Our local democracy reporter went to find out what she’s fighting for and what her hopes are for Medway.

Medway has attracted people from all walks of life and from all around the world, and someone who exemplifies this is Cllr Lauren Edwards, who represents Rochester East and Warren Wood.

She was born in Australia and only came to the UK in 2005, after studying at the University of Adelaide, for a Masters at the London School of Economics.

Lauren hadn’t initially intended to stay but says she fell in love with the people and the culture of the UK, so couldn’t bring herself to leave.

She said: “I was only supposed to stay for a year and now it many many years. The cultures are very similar but different.

“If you’re coming from Australia, you can live anywhere in the world. I think the reason I came to Medway was the same reason lots of people do, because it’s easier to buy a house than other places.

“My partner had been in the area and we just loved Rochester High Street and thought the area was such a beautiful place, with a real sense of community. I really felt it was a place where I could put down roots and be part of something.”

There are things, of course, she misses about life down under - we may have met on a sunny afternoon in the beer garden of The Command House in Chatham, but English weather can’t really compete with that of Australia.

She says she goes back to visit family every so often, but, due to Covid, she wasn’t able to for three years.

“There’s more to life than just the weather, and I wasn’t able to get back to see my family for so long, it was very difficult.”

Lauren had been working in a range of jobs from the age of 15, some, she says, she was more suited for than others (she said she once accidentally tipped a whole tray of drinks over a customer while working in hospitality).

After graduating from the LSE she worked for a variety of companies, including developing the business case for the creation of the UK Anti Doping Agency ahead of the London 2012 Olympics, before becoming a parliamentary researcher.

Between 2008 and 2010 she worked for Barbara Keeley, MP for Worsley and Eccles South, then for Teresa Pearce, Erith and Thamesmead’s MP, until 2013, and part-time for Lisa Nandy, then shadow children’s minister, from 2012 to 2013.

She says the experience of Westminster was an odd one, in some ways similar to previous jobs she’d had and in others very different.

“Westminster’s a very strange place. In some ways it’s just like any other office job, meetings, emails, that kind of thing, but then you have something like a government reshuffle and then it becomes a very different beast.

“There are positives and negatives. It can be really long hours, but it does put you in touch with lots of people you wouldn’t normally come across.

“You’re dealing with thorny issues, issues that will affect people’s lives, so you have to take it very seriously.”

But Lauren says she never considered standing for parliament during her time working there. In fact, she says her experience made her rule it out.

“I never thought about standing myself when I worked there. I actually thought people who decided to stand for parliament were not of sound mind.,” she said.

“It’s a tough job, you get a decent salary but you have a lot of scrutiny, it has a negative effect on a lot of people’s family lives and the work–life balance isn’t great.”

So what changed? Lauren’s now the Labour Party candidate for the Rochester and Strood constituency, is she no longer of sound mind?

She says the change came during the pandemic, when she wasn’t pleased with the way the government handled the crisis.

“I was really unhappy with Boris Johnson and the way he had lied, and the way Matt Hancock was dealing with things.

“I was watching TV and having a bit of a moan about it, and then thought ‘Well you can keep on moaning about it or you can actually do something about it. If you genuinely think you can do a better job then have a crack at it.”

“If ordinary people who see the problems don’t have a go then you end up with the same kind of people all the time.”

In December 2021 she was elected to Rochester East, and, after the Labour Group took control of the council earlier this year, she became the portfolio holder for economic and social regeneration and inward investment.

She says although the role is generally economically focused, she thinks it’s important to consider the human element as well.

“Economic regeneration can’t just be about building, it’s got to be about people. I want people from around the UK and other countries to be investing in Medway because that will inspire growth and provide jobs for local people.

“I work with a lot of the universities, employers, and colleges to make sure we understand what opportunities are coming down the line and making sure our young people are equipped for those jobs of the future.”

Since the elections in May and taking up this portfolio role, Lauren says she’s finding it harder to take time for herself and her hobbies outside of politics - though she’s determined to maintain some sort of work–life balance.

“I’m a big cricket fan, but I’d never played it till last year. It wasn’t encouraged for girls to play cricket when I was younger, so I played basketball and did athletics instead. At the age of 39 I took up cricket and…I wasn’t very good - I’m wildly inconsistent as a bowler - but it’s good fun.

“I’ve also got an allotment, where I try to grow things you can’t get at the supermarket. I was on a waiting list for seven years and we’ve only just got it. I want to try Jerusalem artichokes because they’re quite expensive, but we’re just on basic stuff at the moment because we’ve just started.”

Lauren also says activities to destress, such as yoga and meditation, are really important too, so I ask if she finds it hard to stop thinking about politics.

“It can be difficult, with social media and the 24-hour news cycle you can spend your whole life reacting to things and that’s not really how I want to live.

“I want to be responsive, but I also want to have my own priorities, focus on the things that I think matter. It can be very full on, but it’s like any stressful job, you have to switch off and relax.

“My partner’s from Yorkshire and we went up for a week’s holiday not long ago to spend time with his family and that was really beneficial. Not glamorous, but getting away and getting fresh air, disconnecting, was really amazing.”

With a likely general election sometime next year, and with polls predicting she’ll win the Rochester and Strood seat, I ask Lauren if she’s ready for the pressure which comes with being an MP.

“I’m going into it with my eyes fully open. I know it will be a lot of pressure, a lot of scrutiny, but it comes down to ‘Okay, if you’re not happy with the way things are you have to put up or shut up.

“I want, as an MP, to not just talk about things but to actually deliver. I don’t think the current MP can point to things they’ve achieved during their time in Parliament.

“If I were elected, I want, at the end of my time, to demonstrate what I have delivered. For me, it’s about creating opportunities, facilitating the growth of our local economy, making sure the basics of life aren’t as hard as they currently are for people - making sure people can get to see a GP, for example.”

“I don’t take anything for granted, I know I have to prove myself to be a good candidate who would stand up for Rochester and Strood.

“I think a lot of people don’t feel as positive about the future as they used to, and I want to get us back to that.”