Hello again!, Crawley Observer Column, Wednesday 10th July 2024

As I write, I am on a train to London, ready to help elect the Speaker of the House of Commons and get on with the job of representing the town.

Truth be told, none of this feels real just yet, but what really cuts through is a sense of deep gratitude for people putting their trust in me and a determination not to be another reason for people to be cynical about politics and politicians.

With that in mind, in addition to the very long list of things I know I need to deliver in order to secure the change many people want for our town, I want to try to find new ways to engage with constituents.

The Facebook Live Q&A sessions I started running as Leader of Crawley Borough Council during the pandemic were a way of providing people with the ability to have their issues addressed directly in a forum where I couldn’t dodge a question and in a format where it was easy to give residents the broader context around why things were the case. I’m hoping to do something similar soon.

For now, I’m doing a series of short daily vlogs on my website and social media, providing people with an account day-by-day of the process of becoming a new MP. I’m hoping that by walking people through the system involved in running our legislature, I can help to break down some of the barriers around Parliament.

If you have any suggestions or want to reach out for another reason, my parliamentary email address is now live at peter.lamb.mp@parliament.uk or you can find all my latest content on my website http://peterlamb.org.uk

Much as I said in my last column as council leader a little over two years ago, our biggest weakness as a town is just how much time people spend talking Crawley down. As your MP, I hope to not only push for the change Crawley needs, but to be our town’s greatest cheerleader, so that every child growing up in Crawley today is able to feel proud of where they come from.