A year ago (almost) to the day, I had the honour of being elected to represent you all. I want to firstly thank you for placing your trust in me. Being your Member of Parliament has been the privilege of a lifetime. 

I am incredibly grateful to every one of you that has taken the time to speak with me and trusted me with your issues. I’ve made it my mission to be the most visible and accessible MP I can possibly be.  

By some sort of grand design, I share this anniversary with the birthday of one of our towns. On 4th July 1837, the first train passed through Crewe Station, during the opening of the Birmingham to Manchester and Liverpool line.  

Almost 200 years later, I am proud to look back on the more recent history of everything done this past year, across both Crewe & Nantwich. My only regret would have to be not buying Oasis tickets. 

We’ve achieved a lot, pushing for investment in our town centres, campaigning for safer streets and fairer opportunities for young people, and fighting for greater infrastructure and connectivity across the area. We’ve dealt with over 7,000 pieces of casework and policy questions, hosted 9 constituency surgeries and celebrated 7 Small Businesses of the Month. 

We secured funding for the rebuild of Leighton Hospital, saw a 7% reduction in local waiting lists, better postal services, challenged mobile operators on poor networks, challenged housing providers on management of new build estates, cleaned up Nantwich Station, supported Crewe FC to secure state of the art football facilities, and hosted a community clean up in Crewe. 

Thanks also to those of you who have welcomed me into your workplaces and community spaces. It’s been a privilege to meet so many inspirational people – across schools, health centres, non-profits, small businesses, farms and more. Each visit has only strengthened my connection to the people of Crewe and Nantwich, enabling me to better represent you in Westminster. 

Down in Parliament, I spoke a total of 70 times, mentioning Crewe and Nantwich 39 times.

I also voted over 200 times, on vital issues including bringing rail into public ownership, the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights for a generation, banning the bonuses of water bosses who pollute our rivers, free breakfast clubs in every school, a cap on the cost of school uniforms and sweeping powers to tackle antisocial behaviour, as well as leading a debate on the need for investment in Crewe railway station.  

And I know there’s much more to do. I intend to face the next year with the exact same energy and dedication as the first.  

A week may be a long time in politics, but this past year has absolutely flown by.