"When I was at a tough inner-city school, drama gave me a friendship group. It's been so core to who ..." — Wes Streeting

On housing, education and skills, health and social care, transport and economic development, local government is better placed to make decisions in the interests of local communities.

The failure of state education in so many white working class areas is utterly unacceptable. Not to talk about it or to have any answers for how we overcome it, equally so. Nor should we be tackling educational inequality affecting white working class kids at the expense of tackling the disadvantage facing young people from other backgrounds.

One of the privileges of my adult life has been meeting pioneers of LGBT equality, particularly Waheed Alli, Michael Cashman and Ian McKellen.

I was born in Tower Hamlets in London Hospital, Mile End. I grew up in Stepney on a council estate and lived with my mum and only saw my dad on weekends.