On Wednesday the Prime Minister delivered his speech to the Conservative Party conference. In doing so, he brought to an end four very busy days for me which I spent meeting with various organisations, catching up with charities and speaking at many different events.
For me this conference was very different as it was my first as a Government Minister. Whereas I would normally spend all of my time meeting with businesses and charities with a link to North Swindon; this year I had to do all of that as well as lots of events to cover my important role as Minister for Disabled People. Nobody is as enthusiastic as me in both my Ministerial role and as a local MP so I was determined to squeeze everything in!
With my North Swindon hat on I had positive meetings with the likes of Nationwide who continue to play an important role in our community both as a local employer and through their corporate social responsibility programmes. I also met with Virgin Media as part of my pursuit to get Fibre broadband to come to North Swindon and oppose the current 4g scheme proposals. The meeting was very positive and I hope to get a comprehensive update within the next few weeks.
With my Ministerial hat on, I was invited to speak at a number of panel events and roundtable discussions to provide updates on the Governments ambition to reduce the disability employment gap, as well as other important issues. It was great to have all of the top organisations in one place including Leonard Cheshire, Parkinsons UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, the National Autistic Society as well as many other work programme providers and disability charities. I pride myself on being an approachable Minister and in my role listening to the key players is absolutely vital. This is why I continue to engage, go on plenty of visits and make myself available. Initially the thought of speaking at so many events to so many important people in such a short space of time was very daunting! However I soon got into the swing of things and hopefully my passion for the job did manage to come across.
Finally, I was pleased to see the Prime Minister deliver an impassioned speech in which he well and truly established the Conservatives as the party of security, stability and opportunity. I was delighted to hear the Prime Minister launch an all-out assault on poverty in this country by providing jobs, houses, economic growth and crucially, opportunity. As he quite rightly remarked, if you are looking for a lecture on poverty, then go to Labour. But if you are looking to tackle the root causes of poverty then look to the Conservatives.
