Alison Bennett's Monday Mail: 101 Days
Over the weekend it was 100 days since the general election and since I became Mid Sussex’s new Member of Parliament.
When Parliament is sitting, each week splits fairly predictably, with the first half spent in Westminster, and the second half at home in Mid Sussex. Having been warned by a Labour colleague that there are, ‘MPs that drink, and MPs that run’, I decided that I should try to be an MP that runs (albeit slowly), so I have been packing my running kit, and trying to get some exercise in before breakfast.
A problem presented itself last week: Sussex mud season had begun. My preferred trainers were too mucky to put in my bag. So, I dug out some old trainers, and now I have one pristine pair for London, and one very filthy pair for Sussex.
The reason I am sharing this is because as I was squelching through the mud and clambering over stiles on Saturday morning, I thought that my two pairs of trainers were a bit like my life as an MP.
In Westminster, everything is defined, if sometimes opaque. There are rules and procedures for everything. If you can work out what those rules are and remember them, you have half a chance of making a speech, asking a question, or intervening in a debate.
In Mid Sussex, it’s a different story. People contact me wanting my help, my opinion or to share theirs. A bit like my muddy runs, you need to slow down, hear people out and work out what you can do to help someone overcome the obstacle that they are facing.
Whilst the London runs are flat, clean, a (moderately) speedy, the Sussex runs are more fulfilling because you are in touch with real life trying to solve problems.
A hundred days in, how am I balancing the two halves of my new job? Progress has definitely been made. Some of my staff have now started working for me, and they are doing a brilliant job.
My top priority remains fighting for local health services. I have met with bosses from two local NHS Trusts, and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. In Parliament I have asked questions about children’s mental health support, community pharmacies and hospice funding. I have visited two local hospices and I have been appointed as the Lib Dem spokesperson for Care and Carers.
Protecting our environment is evermore important. In July I gave my maiden speech in the debate on green energy, and I highlighted the work that Mid Sussex environmental groups like Greener Hassocks and Ditchling have done to deliver community energy generation schemes. Last week, I was proud to continue to support the Climate and Nature Bill which Lib Dem MP Roz Savage has chosen as her Private Member’s Bill.
On the Cost of Living, I have voted against Labour government cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners, spoken to consumer finance campaigner Martin Lewis about this and about the importance of delivering financial education for young people. I have met with groups helping people with food poverty in Mid Sussex including the Trussell Trust and UK Harvest and with the national poverty campaign group the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
However, I know I still have a very long way to go. I have taken up the cases of hundreds of people who are asking for my help. I have had some successes along the way, but there’s so much more to do.
The life of an MP is more of a marathon than a sprint.
Getting in touch
My parliamentary email address is: alison.bennett.mp@parliament.uk. If you need my help, please get in touch and I will do my best to help. I am so pleased that some of my team have now started working for me, but whilst we work through the backlog I am sorry that response times are still not as quick as I want them to be.
Best wishes,
Alison
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