It’s just over eight weeks since members of the Brentwood and Ongar Conservative Association selected me to stand as the local Conservative Candidate in the General Election. Life has changed quite a lot since then.
After a six-week campaign in which me and my team worked seven days a week, I emerged from the count at the Brentwood Centre, having been duly elected as the Member of Parliament for Brentwood and Ongar with our largest ever local majority. Just over 48 hours later I was in Westminster feeling, like so many others before me, like I was reliving those discombobulating first few days at a new school. There are terms and timetables, rules and rituals, and, of course, older, more experienced boys and girls who waft around with an air of assured confidence.
The first couple of weeks have been busy. We’ve elected, or rather re-elected the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow. We’ve been debating the Queen’s Speech (we vote on it later this week). And I’ve been meeting colleagues and experts to discuss everything from Daesh and the terrorist threat, to our car industry, to Brexit, to farming, to robotics and more.
It’s an enormous privilege to serve a wonderful seat such as this. One of the things that strikes you when you first campaign to be an MP is the extraordinary depth of experience that so many local people and professionals have. It’s the job of the MP to bring together all of these expertise and voices so as to represent the area as a whole. So I’ve been talking to headteachers, the police, farmers, business leaders, developers and, of course, local people who use these services and industries.
I have already had a huge number of emails from constituents which me and my team and dealing with in priority order (although this weekend's cyber attack in Parliament has slowed things down). If you need to get in touch please do email me at alex.burghart.mp@parliament.uk. I’m extremely honoured that you have elected me as your MP – I will do my very best to serve you well.