Thank you!
I am deeply humbled by the support people have given me, electing me to be your MP. This is me with my family who taught me my values of hard work and service and are the sort of ordinary family I want to try and represent. Obviously a moment of happiness for me but a very difficult night for the Conservative Party. Time for us to reflect. Below is the short speech I gave at 4am on winning. It sums up what I think and feel. The work of being your MP begins straight away! I wanted to make a start and so this evening I have asked for meetings with
-Southern Water on sewage overflows
- East Sussex County council on our roads.
Meetings don't fix much on their own but they are the start of getting things done.
Speech follows:
Can I begin by thanking the returning officer and all of the staff for their hard work tonight as they allow us to put our democracy into action.
Can I also thank the police for being here to ensure our safety.
I want to take a moment to recognise each of the candidates for being willing to stand. Sadly politics has become more fractious and it takes more and more courage to be willing to put your head above the parapet.
And standing to be a candidate is also a team effort. Can I give my sincere thanks to each and every member of my team-those who helped for an hour, those who helped for many many more hours than that. I absolutely couldn’t have done this without you and I also couldn’t have done it without the support of my family.
And now can I say to everyone who voted for me and everyone who didn’t, I am now your MP, however you voted and I promise to work hard for you and keep you at the front of my mind. It is a privilege to serve as an MP and to serve as your MP.
I know you want your roads fixed, your countryside & waters protected, your NHS improved, your local high streets revitalised and much more. I won’t be able to get everyone everything they want. But I know all you want to see is that I try my best.
Nationally it is clearly a very difficult night for my party.
The hundreds of conversations I have had over the campaign leave me clear in understanding why this has happened.
The silent majority is a sometimes derided phrase.
I have always known that it is a very real thing.
It is made up of ordinary families like mine and yours. Who work hard, stand on their own two feet & actually don’t ask for much from government.
But that silent majority has always relied on one thing.
That they could be confident in their silence that we could still hear them.
We stopped listening to them.
They have always supported us.
In recent years we haven’t always spoken up for them.
We need to get back to listening and speaking up for them and I look forward to playing my role in doing exactly that in the months and years to come.
Thank you.
