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Fresh start in atmosphere of expectation
ON TUESDAY, Parliament assembled to elect the Speaker of the House of Commons.
The atmosphere was electric with new and returning members alike finding their seats.
It was all-change since the last time we sat, with Prime Minister, David Cameron, at the Despatch Box to the right of the Speaker's Chair and Harriet Harman, Labour's Acting Leader, to the left.
Sitting next to David was Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy PM – I don't think many people would have predicted that in April!
Seeing David Cameron speaking from the Government side was a wonderful moment – the culmination of so many years hard work.
It was also wonderful to see so many Conservatives MPs taking their places.
Among them were of course, my friends Henry Smith, the new Member for Crawley, and Ray Chishti, who was my Labour opponent in Horsham in 2005 and is now the newly-elected Conservative Member for Gillingham and Rainham in north Kent.
A comparison often made, but worth repeating, is that the last few days have felt like the beginning of a new school year.
So many fresh and enthusiastic faces adding to an atmosphere of expectation.
There's also the frantic allocation of lockers, email addresses and phone extensions.
One thing that isn't so frantic is the dishing out of offices.
After the 2005 election this took some six weeks and new MPs were sharing desks, working from cafes – in fact grabbing any space they could find!
This is happening again and I currently have two MPs and their staff squatting in my office, with my House of Commons team!
It's good to give them a helping hand.
After all their constituents will already be writing, asking for help with problems or asking them about local and national issues.
There's no time to mess about – you have to be able to hit the ground running if you are going to represent your constituents properly.
Talking of hitting the ground running, I may be getting to grips with my new role as Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, but I'm also paying close attention to my commitments in and around Horsham.
During and since the campaign I've gathered many local people's details who need to attend one of my advice surgeries or for me to visit them at home.
I'm working my way through the list but it's going to take a few weeks!
Just a reminder, if anyone would like to see me, please do give my Horsham office a call on 01403 242000 and we'll make the necessary arrangements.
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Weather for Horsham
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 6 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -7 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: East
