Swindon Advertiser Weekly Article - 22nd July

Last weekend was one of mixed emotions for me. On Saturday I was very excited as I arrived for what I thought would be a relaxing day of cricket at Lords on the 3^rd day of the test match between England and Pakistan. Just as the morning session began, I received a call from Downing Street. The Prime Minister wished to speak to me. I made a quick exit from the stands (mid-over as well which as cricket fans will appreciate, is never a good thing). It wasn’t good news.

With more people wanting senior roles than there are roles, the PM explained it was time for somebody else to be given a chance. My heart sank. But I made it clear I was lucky to have been given a chance by David Cameron and that I would continue to do all I could to support the Government from the back-benches.

Over the last 14 months I am proud of what has been achieved. 365,000 more disabled people are in work, we have opened up the apprenticeship programme to people with learning disabilities, we set up the ‘Reverse Jobs Fair’ in Swindon as part of the Disability Confident campaign, we have pushed to make venues, facilities and services more accessible, and worked with hundreds of charities and stakeholders to make sure their first-hand experience shaped our work.  I have loved every minute of the visits, speeches, meetings and debates and I can genuinely say this opportunity has changed me for the better both as a person and as an MP.

But life goes on. I remain the MP for North Swindon so with no delay this week I have spoken in debates, asked questions of Ministers and had several meetings. On Monday, I raised a question to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to ask what was being doing to attract the very best people into becoming local councillors. On Tuesday I praised channel 4 in a debate on their fantastic commitment to showcase over 700 hours of the Paralympic games. And on Wednesday I gave a speech to reiterate the importance of working with stakeholders to find the best ways to support the most vulnerable in society in Supported Housing.

I have also submitted written questions to various Government departments on a variety of issues including victim support, school sport, disability hate crime, UK Games Tax Relief, victim support, food labelling, attracting foreign investment into Swindon, protecting victims of terrorism and ensuring the cheapest tickets for rail users.

Finally a big thank you to all the residents who have sent me kind messages this week – I am very lucky to represent such a fantastic town!