IT WAS Harold Wilson who famously said that “a week is a long time in politics.” The last week will have been longer for some than for others.

First of all, on Monday we had the vote of confidence in the Prime Minister.

This was due to the fact that 15% of Conservative MPs had written a letter to the Chairman of the 1922 Committee expressing their concerns in leadership.

Once that threshold been reached, it is the rules that a vote must be held.

Boris Johnson survived that vote, but there were enough of my fellow MPs who expressed concerns in his leadership and the direction of the Government that the Prime Minister has to take note.

As in any democracy, you must accept the outcome of the vote and we must now give the PM the time and space to address the issues and set a direction of travel and policies which we can get behind.

On Tuesday, I was part of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee which was looking at the scrutiny of international treaties – very relevant to the EU/UK agreement debate going on at the moment. Wednesday saw the debate on the Levelling Up Bill – where I reminded the Government that a huge part of levelling up has to mean giving local areas the power and responsibility to improve themselves.

Thursday I was back in Carlisle, which always means moving from Parliamentary events to local issues, which are of equal importance to those involved and to the community that we are part of.

I held one of my surgeries to meet constituents and help deal with their issues and problems on the Friday. As well as individual issues, surgeries are also an opportunity for constituents to comment on Government policy and give general political opinions.

An MP can never underestimate the importance of these engagements, as they ensure we are very aware of the issues that affect everyone's everyday lives – and they help give a sense of the main matters which the constituency is concerned about.

From there I met a local uniform supply business to see what they were doing and to learn about their investment in Carlisle. Afterwards I went to Carlisle College, with whom I like to keep in regular contact about issues. The construction company Persimmon has given the college 10,000 bricks to help the apprentices and students learn their trade.

It was a great opportunity to see first-hand the work that the apprentices do. As we all know, there is a substantial amount of building going on in and around Carlisle so seeing the next generation of bricklayer learning their job was inspiring.

My week then ended with a visit to the famous Cumberland Show. This is an annual event which has been going on for well over 100 years. Sadly, we have missed it for a couple of years because of Covid.

However, it was wonderful to see the event back and well supported with large crowds and participants. Good luck to them for next year.

A week may be a long time in politics – but sometimes it can actually go very quickly!