As a Member of Parliament there are many different aspects of my job, from my role as a government minister, to holding advice surgeries and standing up for our community.

But I know that with a constituency like Hornsey and Friern Barnet, I am blessed to have a community with so many varied small businesses on our high streets that many of my colleagues could only dream of having.

It is one of the great joys of my job to spend time out and about in the community dropping in to local shops and restaurants, and with both Small Business Saturday and  Christmas shopping on the horizon, now really is the time to celebrate our diverse – and award winning – range of small businesses across our community.

In recent weeks I have been particularly pleased to celebrate one of our local businesses, Toff's of Muswell Hill, being announced in the top 10 for the Restaurant of the Year category for the National Fish & Chip Awards 2025, and I am looking forward to visiting so many more local businesses on Small Business Saturday.

Catherine West enjoys shopping on the local high streetsCatherine West enjoys shopping on the local high streets (Image: Office of Catherine West) I know times are hard for many in our community, and with so much uncertainty in the world I know people may cut back this Christmas.

But if you are drawing up your shopping list of gifts for friends and family in the coming weeks, please do consider shopping local.

Not only is the range of shops we have better than many other areas of the country, but a recent government study has shown that for every £10 spent locally, £3.85 is recirculated within the local community, thus helping national recovery across the entire UK and keeping our high streets thriving, keeping our carbon footprints down, and protecting the future of our unique shops and restaurants.

I am pleased that my friend and colleague the Chancellor Rachel Reeves highlighted the importance of high streets in her recent Budget, with a range of support from tackling low level shoplifting to moving towards a lower level of business rates from 2027.

When I do my Christmas shopping I’ll be shopping local, and I look forward to seeing many of you out and about enjoying our high streets in the weeks to come.

  • Catherine West is Labour MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet.