Westminster Week
Posted by Kitty Ussher, MP for Burnley, at 09:39, Mon 9 July 2007:
Dear Friend,
It was been a bit of a whirlwind down in Westminster last week. Last Wednesday, the outgoing prime minister, Tony Blair, held his last ever Prime Minister’s Questions. The chamber of the House of Commons was packed – MPs had to get there half an hour early to even have half a chance of getting a seat and all the tickets in the public gallery had gone ages before. The mood started sombre, with Tony Blair expressing his remorse at the fact that our troops in Iraq and Afganistan were facing such dangers, and expressing his condolences to the families of the latest casualties. But we soon realised that it was going to be a prime ministers questions with a difference when, instead of routinely listing his engagements for the rest of the day, as he does every week, he simply said that he would be having “no such engagements” in the future.
After that it was an extremely courteous occasion, with tributes from all political parties – none of the really difficult questions that he has come to expect. And at the end of the session, the House of Commons burst into a spontaneous standing ovation (only the Welsh Nationalists refused to get to their feet) as the prime minister left for the last time. It was then to see the queen to resign formally and on to his constituency of Sedgefield to resign as a Member of Parliament as well. Meanwhile it was then Gordon Brown’s turn to visit the Queen, to be invited to form a new government after which he entered No10 Downing Street for the first time, vowing “to do his utmost” for the people of Britain.
On the next day, Thursday, the atmosphere in parliament was odd. Some of the new positions in the cabinet had been announced so there were some MPs who were clearly delighted. Others were more apprehensive, with existing ministers wondering if they would keep their jobs and ambitious new people running around clutching their phones in the hope that would make them more likely to ring with an offer of a new job from the new prime minister. I used the opportunity to catch up on some paperwork!
Then on Friday afternoon my world changed when Gordon Brown rang me in the early afternoon to ask if I would become a minister in the Treasury. I didn’t really believe it at first, and just sat there for a few minutes with a confused expression on my face. But soon the ministerial machine kicked into action and before the afternoon was out, I was being visited by my new ministerial office manager (private secretary) who came complete with those red boxes full of things for me to read. I’m obviously delighted and honoured. My formal title is the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, a junior member of the team of five Treasury ministers headed by the new Chancellor, Alastair Darling. My policy responsibilities are economic matters generally, issues relating to financial services and the City, and European budget matters. My mother says that she always knew that the day would come when I was glad of having done a masters degree in Economics some ten years ago…
So there’s some hard work to be done over the next few weeks as I get my head around the new subject matter. But it wont make any difference to the time I spend in the constituency because I’ll normally only be doing ministerial work when I would have to be down in London voting anyway. And, who knows, it may make fighting Burnley’s corner in government easier if I’m doing it from the perspective of actually being a minister – we all know that Blackburn has done well from having Jack Straw, and before him Barbara Castle.
So all in all, after this week I’ll be glad to be on the train back north on Thursday to do my surgeries, visit some schools, regroup with friends and colleagues and perhaps get a bit of time to go walking in the hills to digest the events of the last few days.
With all good wishes,
Kitty Ussher MP
6 ways to contact Kitty Ussher MP
Write to: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA or 2 Victoria Street, Burnley BB11 1DD Phone: 01282 450840 Fax: 01282 839623 By e-mail: ussherk@parliament.uk On the web: www.kittyussher.com In person: Next surgeries are Friday 27th July – 4.30pm – 6.30pm - Cliviger Village Hall, Burnley Road. Saturday 28th July – 10am 12noon - Open Hands Centre, Colne Road. No appointment needed.
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