I have kept my contract with you

When the community elected me, I set out a contract with the voters of Norwich North, showing what I would do and what kind of MP I would be. I’ve kept all those promises and will explain how in this post.

I was asking for people’s votes in 2009, when my well-respected predecessor Ian Gibson stood down unexpectedly after the expenses scandal. It was a by-election and people’s confidence in politics really was at an all-time low. People generally have little faith in politicians to tell the truth and deliver what they promise. That’s why I set out a contract and asked people to hold me to it. They did, by re-electing me nine months later at the 2010 General Election, and I continued to make good on those promises.

There were ten promises:

“I will be honest with people about public spending, but I will stand up for the local community to protect important local services.” As a Conservative MP in Parliament I have been honest about the deficit and the need to reduce it, and voted accordingly. However, I have spoken out about certain important local services, like the need to protect young people’s bus passes to college, and our NHS, which my party has ringfenced spending on.

“I will hold fortnightly surgery meetings in a variety of locations across the constituency.” Definitely done that! I’ve helped over 7,000 constituents with individual concerns in the last six years.

“I will organise a forum for local businesses, employers, colleges, unions and others to discuss how we can work together to help the local community through the recession.” I’ve done that: the Norwich for Jobs project has now helped 1,600 Norwich youngsters into work, and I achieved that through bringing people together including the Chamber of Commerce, City College Norwich and the Jobcentre. I’ve also listened carefully to the TUC, UNISON and National Union of Students on the same issues in Parliament.

“I will hold monthly meetings with local police officers so I can raise any concerns you have and press the police to act upon them.” I’ve done this and made it even more effective over the last six years by holding joint meetings with the city police and city council, as well as regularly raising matters with Broadland police inspectors too.

“I will organise a meeting twice a year for representatives of local residents’ associations leaseholders’ groups, housing associations, our local councils and other connected groups to discuss local housing problems and see how we can work together to address them.” I’ve held regular meetings and also helped thousands of constituents individually with housing issues.

“I will campaign to get the Northern Distributor Road built around the north of the city.” I have done this – even though I know it can be controversial. I believe it is the right thing to do to encourage jobs to come to Norwich by improving our transport links; plus, many people in the north of the urban area are already affected very badly by congestion which needs to be relieved. I’ve lobbied the government to commit funding to the road and succeeded.

“I will work to get a useful new community facility at the site of the NHS Walk-in Centre at Dussindale, which was due to be closed (at the time of writing)”. Many hundreds of local people joined our Conservative campaign to keep the Walk-in Centre in Thorpe St Andrew, but alas we didn’t succeed. There is nonetheless now a continued NHS community facility there. I’ve also worked hard behind the scenes to keep the new Walk-in Centre open once it had moved.

 

“I will launch a consultation on speed limits across the whole constituency and work with local community and councils to campaign for change where necessary.” I did this in my first year and will continue to monitor the issue.

“I will organise an annual survey of local people on the performance of our local councils to hold them to account on the services they provide, such as recycling, bus services, road maintenance and housing.” I have regularly surveyed local people about all these issues and more, and I always act on the results wherever I can, working with local councillors.

“I will oppose any attempts to reorganise local government and impose a super-sized ‘Greater Norwich Council’ on the communities that surround the city.” This was a big issue in 2009, and my views would likely remain the same now if it came up again!

Actually, I improved on many of these promises once I got into the swing of the job, which means that I have adapted the frequency of some of the named meetings to whatever seems to work best for constituents.

I also set out a transparency pledge about my expenses, which I’ve fulfilled. The expenses rules rightly changed in 2010, which meant that some of the pledges I made to publish my data are now done for me by the new watchdog here:http://www.parliamentary-standards.org.uk/

And finally I set out a clean campaign pledge to fight an honest and positive election campaign, which I’ve fulfilled.

The aim was to show what I would do and what kind of MP I would be. I’ve kept all the promises and I hope I’ve demonstrated what kind of a person I am – straightforward and approachable. I’ve now set out six more things I want to do for Norwich North, which you can find in my blogs about my “Six Point Plan for Norwich North”. If you re-elect me, I will carry on working hard for everyone in Norwich North.