In this week's MP column, David Williams, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove, discusses what matters to the people of Stoke-on-Trent outside of Westminster politics.

Stoke-on-Trent has never asked for special treatment. What people here want is simple: fair investment, decent jobs, strong public services and a government that understands the reality of life outside Westminster.

At the moment, there is understandably a great deal of attention on what is happening in national politics. Westminster is noisy. Personalities dominate headlines. Briefings and rumours fill the air almost every hour.

But while commentators obsess over the latest drama down there, most people in Stoke-on-Trent are asking much more practical questions.

Will there be decent jobs for my children?

Will my local high street recover?

Can I get a GP appointment?

Will the bus turn up on time?

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Will the roads finally get fixed properly?

Will our area finally get the investment it deserves?

Those are the questions that matter.

As MP for Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove, I am absolutely clear about one thing: whoever is in Number Ten must understand what places like ours need.

Too often over the last decade, governments of all colours have spoken about "levelling up" without fully understanding the scale of the challenge facing towns and cities like Stoke-on-Trent. People here are ambitious for our area, but they are also tired of slogans without delivery.

What Stoke-on-Trent needs is long-term commitment and serious partnership.

We need investment in skills and technical education so local young people can access good careers without feeling they have to leave the city behind.

Just last week, I visited the new Advanced Green Technology Centre at Stoke on Trent College's Burslem Campus, where government investment has helped create a state-of-the-art facility for young people to learn the skills of the future.

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From retrofit and renewable technologies to modern construction and engineering skills, this is exactly the kind of practical investment places like ours need if we are serious about creating good local jobs and building a stronger economy for the next generation.

We also need support for our proud ceramics industry, which remains part of the identity and economy of our city. The people who make things in Stoke deserve a government that backs British manufacturing rather than simply talking about it.

We need continued investment in transport and infrastructure. Better buses, better roads and better connections are not luxuries. They are essential if local people are going to access jobs, education and opportunity.

And we need government to recognise the importance of heritage and pride in place.

I recently visited the Burslem Indoor Market, where investment secured and backed by the Labour council is helping bring a building that means so much to local people back to life.

For years, too many people watched important parts of our heritage decline and wondered whether anyone in power truly cared enough to turn things around. Projects like this matter because regeneration is not just about bricks and mortar — it is about restoring pride, confidence and belief in the future of our towns.

The good news is that Stoke-on-Trent is already changing.

Across the city, there are new housing developments, regeneration schemes, road improvements, town centre projects and investment in education and skills. None of this happens overnight, and there is still a huge amount more to do, but progress is being made.

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My job is to make sure our city's voice is heard loudly in Westminster regardless of the political noise of the day.

Because at the end of the day, governments come and go. Headlines come and go. Political fashions come and go.

But places like Stoke-on-Trent remain.

And whoever leads this country must understand that if Britain is going to succeed, cities like ours cannot simply be remembered during elections or used as political talking points. They must be backed, trusted and invested in for the long term.

And I won't be distracted by Westminster politics – the stakes are too high.