New Green MP Hannah Spencer has said more plumbers and plasterers should stand to become MPs as she spoke in the House of Commons for the first time.
Ms Spencer, who was sworn into Parliament 10 days ago, said she wanted to give hope to voters after winning in her by-election at the end of February.
She became only the fifth ever Green Party MP in the House of Commons when she won the vote in Gorton and Denton, south east Manchester. She now has a 4,402 majority over Reform UK.
Labour, which previously held the seat, came third.
Ms Spencer said she wanted to put the constituency “on the map” by championing its positives.
She paid tribute to her former classmates on her plastering course “who dealt with my newfound spotlight in the middle of our training very well”.
She also briefly became emotional when telling MPs about the school pupils who went to school on International Women’s Day, dressed as her.
Giving her maiden speech during a debate on International Women’s Day, Ms Spencer said: “Four weeks ago today I was in college, a plumber learning how to plaster, and today I’m in Parliament as an MP.
“Being here is the honour of my life but I don’t want this to be unusual or exceptional, I truly believe that anyone doing a job like mine should get a seat on these benches.”
She said her constituency is the 15th most deprived in the UK and would work to help those struggling to pay their bills.
“It has suffered decades of neglect and broken promises, and we see this every day right in front of us, the litter, the flipping, the state of housing, the struggle for a job that you can build a life on, filthy polluted air and the reduced life chances, the sheer unfairness of it all.
“My constituency has been hit hard by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Now, none of this is fair, none of this is right and none of it happens by accident.”
Green Party MPs Carla Denyer (Bristol Central) and Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) were sat either side of Ms Spencer for her speech. They accompanied her when she was sworn in on March 2.
Last weekend, Ms Spencer had to be given a police escort when anti-transgender campaigners clashed with activists after the new MP had given a speech at a rally in central Manchester.
In her speech to Parliament, Ms Spencer raised concerns about groups being left behind including Muslims, military veterans and “the white working class who are always lumped into one group and never appreciated”. She also offered support to trans people who are “blamed for everything”.
She continued: “I don’t always get it. I won’t say I always understand it, but what I do know is what it feels like to be looked down on, to be let down and left behind.
“To be less worthy because of something about me. And our struggles may be different but our humanity is the same.
“We always stick together, we always fight for each other and that is what I want us to take forward from International Women’s Day and to do that every single day.”
