I was born in Chelmsford in Essex and grew up in Heybridge, near Maldon, on a council estate with my mum. I remember a girl who went to my school. Her parents were both artists and they talked about her going to university. It was worlds away from my life. I wasn’t told that I could be anything.

Living a life that is affected by austerity feels like a judgement from a Tory government of who I am. I don’t feel that there’s anybody looking out for my interests as a human being.

I don’t recognise any of the things that Theresa May says. They don’t make any sense to me. They don’t seem to apply to me. Everything that she talks about seems to be against me. My mother’s got an extra bedroom, so she has to pay the bedroom tax. My mum’s got nothing. I don’t actually know how they survive. They don’t really eat very much. It makes me really sad. My mum paid her taxes, she had a good job when she was younger, and now she’s living this life where she feels like she’s got nothing. I talk to her about not voting UKIP or Conservative, ‘cause she reads the Daily Mail and believes it. I tell her it’s full of lies. But there’s a whole bunch of people my mum’s age that are just swayed by the stuff that they read in the media.

At the last election, I really had to explain to my mum that the people she was voting for, or thinking of voting for, have brought in the bedroom tax. I explained that they’re stopping child benefit for more than three children, unless you’ve been raped. And then you’ve got to prove that you were raped. Mum was like, ‘No, that can’t be right’. I had to really say, ‘Mum, don’t do it’. And she went and voted Labour.

I’ve had to work really hard for everything that I’ve got now. I’ve met a lot of inspiring people that have believed in me. I was a really good youth worker – a lot of people wanted me to go into social work.