A day in the life of an MP in the constituency
This week is UK Parliament Week and, as well as visiting schools and youth groups to talk to them about how they can take part in our democratic processes, I want to give you an insight into my work as an MP.
Find out what I get up to when I’m working in my constituency of Blackpool South.
Following the main business of the House on a Thursday I return to Blackpool on the train which gives me a full day on a Friday in Blackpool – a chance to catch up with my office staff, who hold the fort while I’m in Parliament, take meetings and visit organisations in the constituency.
Last Friday I kicked off my day by touching base with my constituency team in our Lytham Road offices before heading to Foxhall Village where housing company Great Places are working on phase three of the development.
Working with local construction company Tyson, this phase of the build will deliver 88 new homes for affordable rent. The houses are lovely – with attic rooms with a view of the tower, and gorgeous outdoor space. I can’t wait to see a community form here when the handovers begin in March 2025.
As part of Great Places’ community investment work, they launched a competition with pupils at Revoe Learning Academy to design the artwork for the hoardings of the site, which reflects what they imagine Foxhall Village will look like 100 to 500 years into the future.
It was great to meet pupils and congratulate them on their achievements – and there was a special appearance from the school therapy dog, Poppy, too!
After that I went to visit another Great Places project – Windmill House – where I met with residents of these self-contained supported living flats off Highfield Road over tea and biscuits. They told me how safe and happy they feel at Windmill House, some of them having lived there for over 20 years.
We discussed assisted dying, which I’ll be voting on in Parliament next week, and they were all keen to share their views on it with my by filling in my survey – you can too by clicking here. I also told them about my pensioner surgeries, where I’m helping people apply for benefits they might be entitled to. There was so much interest in these that we arranged for me to hold one at Windmill House – so I’m looking forward to returning in a few weeks’ time.
From there I headed into town to meet the chief executive of Blackpool Council at Bickerstaff House. We had lots to catch up on around housing, asylum seekers housed in the Metropolitan Hotel, Uber’s operations in Blackpool and funding for Little Marton Windmill.
Then a quick dash across town to visit St John’s C of E Primary School on Church Street where I met with pupils in leadership positions including the school council. I was so impressed with their insightful questions and comments – they told me all the things they love about living in Blackpool which included the Big Wheel on Central Pier and their school – as well as the things they don’t like – including boarded up buildings and the fact that some of Blackpool’s best attractions are too expensive for them to visit.
The school had such a brilliant welcoming atmosphere – with colourful displays and happy, smiley kids. I was also really impressed with the creative ways that outdoor space has been created in this town centre school – the rooftop playground must have one of the best views of Blackpool I’ve ever seen!
As the school bell rang, another school across town was marking the start of its festive celebrations so I headed over to Hawes Side Academy to join them.
It was great to hear how dedicated head teacher Caroline Boothroyd is to exposing her pupils to the arts. She told me how her own son, who has gone on to study and work in music, was first inspired by his year 4 music lessons and she wants to give all Hawes Side children the same opportunity.
It’s clearly paying off with the Hawes Side children showcasing a huge range of talents including acting, singing and even performing poetry in mandarin!
The brilliant HSA rock band not only performed covers of the White Stripes and Queen but their own original song about their school values of relationships, respect, resilience, reflection and responsibility.
But the main event of the evening was Hawes Side’s very own illuminations switch on. I was honoured to introduce Milana and Jax – siblings who had won the raffle to switch on the donkey illumination Hawes Side rescued after it was decommissioned using the real illuminations switch on button. Milana and Jax now share that rare privilege with the likes of David Tenant and Mel B.
By now it was 5pm and I realised I hadn’t had lunch – thank god for all the tea and biscuits throughout the day! I still had one more appointment to get to – my pensioners surgery at Argosy Community Centre on Grange Park.
When I arrived my team were already there and dealing with several people who had received my letter about the drop in event. I sat down with most of them individually to hear about their concerns while my staff set about helping them apply for benefits we believed they might be entitled to.
There were lots of positive outcomes from the surgery but the highlight was meeting Stephen, who came along on his 66th birthday – the day he could start drawing his state pension.
We soon realised he was not only entitled to pension credit – which unlocks the Winter Fuel Payment for him – but housing benefit too, making him hundreds of pounds a month better off. A very happy birthday and happy retirement to him!
This is far and away my favourite part of this job – getting out and about in the constituency and meeting the people I represent. Along the way I heard about the challenges of life in Blackpool, around housing, education, access to the arts and benefits and all this goes on to inform the work I do and how I advocate for you in Parliament.
