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Caitlin Prowle || Labour Staffer
Introduce yourself…
I’m Caitlin, I’m from Pontypool and I work in politics. I’ve worked in and around politics for years, but for the last few months I’ve been working in Parliament (from home!) for a Labour MP.
What is your hometown to you? What was your experience growing up there?
I’m really proud to be from Pontypool, and I definitely see myself as a Valleys girl more widely. My mum’s from Tredegar and my dad’s from Aberdare, and we were definitely brought up to be conscious and aware of where we come from and why it matters. I love London but I get painfully homesick for home – my wallpaper on both my phone and laptop is the view from Keeper’s Pond at the top of Blaenavon!
The Valleys for me are all about resilience, these communities that have suffered and endured so much, and still bear those scars, but have also overcome and strengthened as a result. I saw that resilience everywhere growing up. I also love the cultural aspects of Pontypool, whether it’s crying over a male voice choir’s rendition of Calon Lân or pledging allegiance to the town’s local rugby team. Our communities are bound together by these cultural roots and that’s really special to me.
How has Pontypool influenced or shaped you and what you do as a political worker, if it has?
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It definitely has. Politics is a really broad industry, but I knew from the start that working on the issues that impact South Wales was the goal. I’m so lucky that the MP I work for is also from the Valleys, so the work we do always feels really close to home. I recognise the issues that people write to us about – more often than not I actually know the people or organisations involved. But I’ve also learned that the issues I saw and wanted to solve growing up in Pontypool are often replicated elsewhere. I think everyone comes into politics wanting to change or fight for something, but you often learn that your specific issue is part of something much bigger. What’s the point in solving unemployment and poor mental health in Pontypool if people are still suffering from the same issues in Grimsby, for example? In that sense, I think working in politics has taught me to carry Pontypool with me, but also to think bigger.
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What do you know about your hometown’s political history/history of activism, and does it resonate with you?
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I’m the granddaughter of a Labour councillor on one side and a trade unionist and former miner on the other, so it’s fair to say that I heard my fair share of political stories growing up. Pontypool’s industrial history has always been a huge inspiration to me. It’s such a huge injustice that these communities that contributed so much to Britain’s economy and place in the world have been treated so poorly. Many of my family members were involved with the Miners’ Strike in the 80s, which I think is such a perfect example of fierce Welsh activism, a community fighting so hard and yet being so terribly let down. There has been a historic and ongoing failure to right those wrongs.
But I also never want Pontypool to just be characterised by struggle. There’s an incredible sense of community that I think extends far beyond the industrial alone. Torfaen was one of the first boroughs in Wales to accept Syrian refugees, for example. When the far-right targeted South Wales as a breeding ground for their racism, based on tired stereotypes, the community fought back with a joyful counterprotest. I’m so, so proud of that, and that’s just one example.
Is there something about the political issues you strive to change or your approach to fighting those issues, you feel stems from coming from Pontypool?
Absolutely. I’ve always been interested in industrial policy and working with trade unions, and I think that all stems from where I grew up and the people I looked up to. Post-pandemic, we’re looking at a world and an economy that will need trade unionism more than ever before, and I think now is the time to really think about how we protect workers and what we want to change. Communities like Pontypool have been doing this stuff for decades, and there’s a lot Westminster could learn from that.
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Is there something you see or feel from your hometown that you look to include when fighting for change within issues or projects unrelated to your hometown?
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This is such an interesting question. I always remember that Welsh phrase, ‘dal dy dir’, hold your ground. To me, that means holding firm in what you’ve been taught and what you believe, but it also means holding your ground, your land, the people and the place that you come from, close to you in everything you do. Even if and when I’m working on something completely unrelated to home, I’ll always carry everything I’ve learned from my community with me. It goes back to that idea of resilience I think, taking that fierce and proud history and trying to make it part of everything we do. I don’t think you can ever separate it.
I got into politics explicitly because I wanted to be a small part of changing the story for places like Pontypool, so even if that journey takes me somewhere different, that’ll always be where it all started.
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Follow Caitlin on Twitter here, Instagram here, or on the links below to view some of her work...
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Does the Labour Party have a problem with women in leadership?
Aneurin Bevan – A Valleys Story
By Hannah Nicholson-Tottle