Where your roots are
This week I gave lunch to two councillors and an ex-councillor from my constituency, at the House of Commons. I was asked what was the thing I enjoyed most about being a Member of Parliament – not for the first time.
It is true that here every day is different, and that you also have a ringside seat at the heart of the nation’s political process. You also meet extraordinary people, from unsung heroes in your own constituency to the great and the good. I recently met the brilliantly articulate Bill Clinton, and also Gerhard Schroder, who tells stories of his political life with terrific panache and good humour.
However it is the constituency which is the most satisfying not least because you can directly make an impact on people’s lives. For example, yesterday I wrote to the new Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, pleading with him to speed up a decision about the future of Newmarket Hospital in my constituency. The hospital fulfils all the criteria the government favours, something admitted to me by his predecessor, Patricia Hewitt, in our various meetings. However, what with a change of Prime Minister and a Cabinet reshuffle, things have been on hold. It will certainly be a very happy day for me if we can get what my constituents really want. To put it mildly, after all the campaigning, I am on tenterhooks, because I know how much the decision means to the people who elected me, and indeed to their Parliamentary representative.