ANGUS MACDONALD: Highlands to Westminster takes at least 8.5 hours
It’s been two weeks since I was proudly elected to be the MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire. Standing outside the Palace of Westminster along with thousands of tourists and then stepping in to collect my security badge must be one of the great moments of my life.
Due to the high level of media interest as a result of this election result being declared 36 hours after everyone else’s and because this was Charles Kennedy’s seat I was widely known even though my photograph and name didn’t appear in the booklet of members. I was introduced as ‘the late MP for Inverness’ by an old hand. The Liberal Democrats have 72 MPs, the highest number in a century, one Member has a guide dog known as The Hon Member for Barking.
The first week was a whirlwind, new MPs are provided with a minder who takes you from department to department; the induction is excellent if bewildering. Your new laptop rucksack is bulging with information and pamphlets. There are 335 new MPs, we all wander around the 1100-roomed building peering into cupboards and heading purposely down the wrong set of stairs.
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There was an excellent Chamber briefing, where the business of the House is discussed, the conventions and courtesies of the Commons with examples of procedural demonstrations. The Speaker, Serjeant at Arms, Clerk, Head of the Doorkeepers all take it in turn to explain how things work. There are 3500 staff at Parliament, and that excludes our own ‘yet to be hired’ team.
Us newbies queue up to take our oath, we cannot function as an MP until this is done. This involves being introduced to the absolutely charming Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who was reselected unanimously on our second day. I chatted to a lady who was watering plants on the Terrace, it turned out to be his wife Catherine.
The King’s Speech and address by the new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was clearly the big event of the week here. The new government has many ambitions, two of which are dear to me, economic growth and improving the NHS. The leader of the Lib Dems replied addressing the House on the subject of care, amongst other topics. I hope the SNP government at Holyrood noted the new Westminster government’s focus on delivering rather than the consultations and reviews which we have become used to in Scotland.
The Secretary of State for Scotland, Labour’s Ian Murray invited all the Scottish MPs to a drinks reception at Dover House. I was pleased that he addressed us all about working across parties cohesively and ending the aggression and division that has existed, particularly in Scottish politics. I am keen for us Highlands and Islands MPs to have an informal group where we can campaign together on issues which concern us all, such as the roads, health service, etc.
I also attended a National Farmers’ Union event, where the two big take-away messages were multi-year grant arrangements rather than single year so that farmers could plan ahead and secondly levelling the playing field so that British farmers are not burdened with regulations that do not exist for farmers abroad who are also selling their produce into the UK.
Amongst many big challenges there are two that are proving difficult. The first is the quantity of correspondence, on election I received well over 1000 lovely emails, WhatsApp messages etc. All these need replying to, and us new MPs have no staff. There is a never-ending flow of information and requirements from parliamentary bodies, the Whip’s Office etc. The second is travel, I live near Arisaig. There is a sleeper from Fort William, but it is full all summer. To fly takes a three-hour drive to the airport, with a minimum eight-and-a-half hours door-to-door trip.
At the end of July is recess, not a month’s holiday in August but travelling the constituency, hiring staff and finding an office in Inverness. Hopefully by September I will be fully up and running effectively.