MP Column: Back to Parliament after a busy summer in Mid Beds

Monthly column by Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire Blake Stephenson.

When Parliament closed for the summer, I set myself a few priorities for the six weeks ahead. 

I wanted to spend more time out and about across Mid Bedfordshire – meeting our local policing teams, speaking to farmers, visiting businesses and, importantly, listening to residents about the issues that matter to them. 

I also wanted to spend more time looking at the importance of infrastructure and connectivity across our constituency. Whether it’s our roads, railways, broadband or mobile phone coverage, getting the basics right is vital if our communities are going to thrive. 

Over the past six weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to so many people from across Mid Beds. I’ve visited local businesses to hear first-hand about the challenges they’re facing, met with farmers to discuss the pressures on the agricultural sector and spent time with our local policing teams to hear about the issues they are dealing with on the ground. 

I’ve also held public drop-in sessions across the constituency, giving residents the chance to come along and raise any issues – local or national. 

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to speak to me, invite me into your workplace or come along to one of my drop-ins. As your MP, being able to hear directly from local people is one of the most valuable parts of my job. It helps me understand what is really happening here, rather than relying solely on what I hear in Westminster. 

You may also have seen my team and me out and about in our villages delivering my annual report. Most households across Mid Beds should have received one by now, but if yours hasn’t arrived, you can read it online at blakestephenson.uk/my-annual-reports. 

Now, as we head back to Westminster, I’ll be taking everything I’ve heard over the summer with me. I’ll be using those conversations to hold the Government to account, raise local issues in Parliament and feed the views of residents, businesses and farmers into discussions with my Conservative colleagues as we develop our policies for the future. 

Summer recess may be over, but as we head back to Parliament, all those conversations I’ve had with local people will help guide my work for the coming months.