As of midnight last night, there are no longer any MPs. Parliament has been dissolved and whilst Government continues, under Privy Council authority, Ministers remain in post despite no longer being MPs.
It has been a truly extraordinary privilege to be the Conservative MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed for the last two years. It has been such an honour to be trusted with families' personal, financial, education, health and housing challenges and fighting to get them sorted out. I have had direct contact with nearly 6,000 residents and whilst I can't change the world overnight, I hope that my team and I have been able to help many and fix most problems.
I have had the opportunity to challenge Government delivery of contracts and policies in my role as a member of the Public Accounts Committee - driving a national review of our ambulance services, improving the quality of military families' housing maintenance, driving forwards changes to special needs provision and residential care to get more out of closed institutions to active lives back in the community with appropriate sheltered housing and quality support; and using my financial experience to demand more transparency and new ways of managing our money and making sure the taxpayer gets value for money. I have been disappointed that too often officials at every level of Government don't have the same sense of fiscal prudence and justification that I would expect, as they are spending our money.
I have had the privilege of spending time embedded with our armed forces to really understand how well (or not) we support them as they put their lives on the line to defend us, our country, and our national interests across the globe. I have taken up the challenge of making the Armed Forces Covenant a reality, not just a good idea; and have taken on the Ministry of Defence's plans to reorganise assets and their equipment spending plans, through the Public Accounts Committee, to get better long-term thinking and planning to maximise retention of our uniquely skilled and committed armed forces personnel.
I have always tried to remain true to my beliefs that the Conservative Party is, and should continue to be, the party of pragmatic, possible to achieve policies, which are based on a balance of rights and responsibilities of every citizen, business and organisation across our great country. If we have got that balance wrong, I have been vociferous in my views - sometimes behind the scenes, sometimes from the green benches. Good government should always listen and adapt to the needs and wishes of its democratic voice. And we must never forget that as elected politicians we are the servants of the people, not its masters.
It is with that deeply held belief that, having fought on the Leave side of the EU Referendum, I am pleased that Theresa May is determined to meet the request of the electorate to leave the EU and get our United Kingdom back to being the independent, global nation we are so capable of.
And in order to ensure that she can broker a good deal for us as we leave the EU, I ask that you ensure you cast your vote on 8th June, hopefully for the Conservative Candidate where you live, so that we can return a strong Conservative Government to keep growing our economy and build an even more cohesive, safe and welcoming nation in the next five years.
Over the next 5 weeks, as the Conservative Candidate for Berwick-upon-Tweed, I can be reached on [email protected] or 01665 478188.