Parliamentary Recess

My first three months as an MP has reached an end with the Parliamentary Recess. In such a small space of time, I have seen many new things, and had a number of new experiences. It has been a pleasure to meet so many constituents and local businesses, and i look forward to it continuing!

During the recess I am still available to help with any issues constituents raised and my office in Brown Street is still operational. If you need assistance, I'll do what I can to help.

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Maj. James Joshua Bowman

As I'm sure you are aware, last week brought us the shocking news that Major James Joshua Bowman, a local man, was one of the three soldiers from 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles killed by a rogue Afghan soldier in Helmand province in Afghanistan. This is the first fatality of a constituent since I have been an MP and I want to pay a public tribute to Joshua, a brave and courageous soldier who, along with the many others before him, gave his life in service to his country.

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My first public meeting in Salisbury

Tonight we had the first public  meeting of the campaign at The Vestry . It was unusual to be in a chapel turned into a nightclub to talk politics!

I am told 48 people attended and I had a wide range of questions. I answered some better than others but it was good to start the process - only 13 more to go.

Finished off with a Pizza and now planning my early morning visits tomorrow.... roll on Whiteparish tomorrow evening.

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Expenses and The Right to Recall

Two weeks ago the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority published new rules for MPs' expenses.  You can read the details here.

In summary here are the main highlights of the new rules:

- MPs cannot claim for mortgage interest on a "2nd home", instead, if their constituency is beyond the distance of a daily commute they can rent a 1 bedroom flat.

- MPs cannot claim for 1st class rail travel

- MPs cannot claim for a daily "food" allowance unless parliament is voting very late and only then with receipts

- MPs can only put one member of their family or a "closely connected" person on their staff allowance.

These rules are very fair an sensible. If elected I would fully submit to every last detail of the provisions of the new rules. I would also be obliged to put every expense on my website to allow full scrutiny by the public and my constituents. This is right and proper and again I would have expected to do that anyway as David Cameron brought this rule in for Conservative MPs several months before the report was published.

Politics does need to change - that is why I am delighted to report that the Conservatives are going further to try and clean up politics. Today we have announced the "The Right to Recall" a Member of Parliament if they break rules or the law between General Elections. Clearly I don't ever expect to be in a position where such action would be needed to even be considered but just in case here are the procedures that would come into force if we have a Conservative Government.

•In cases where the Standards and Privileges Committee finds against an MP, it will have the power to decide whether the use of recall powers should be applicable;
•Similarly, in cases where an MP has been convicted of a criminal offence, the committee would also issue a special report explaining whether recall was recommended;
•If the Standards Committee gives the green light to the use of the recall powers, at least 100 constituents would have to sign a "notice of intent to recall" petition and submit it to the local returning officer;
•Once registered in that way, there would be a 90-day window for the petitioners to attract the signatures of 10% of the electorate in order to trigger a by-election, after which time limit the petition would fall if unsuccessful.

Rules would state that recall petitions could not be sponsored or funded by officials or employees of a political party.

Shadow Commons Leader (and former Standards and Privileges Committee chairman) Sir George Young and a  neighbouring MP to Salisbury has released the following statement:

"The last five years has been disastrous for Parliament and trust in politics has reached an all-time low. People want change and politicians must become more directly accountable for their actions. We have proposed a power of recall that will allow constituents to remove their MP mid-term without having to wait for a general election. Giving local people the power to cast a vote of no confidence in their elected representative will bring an end to the concept of the 'safe seat' and make MPs directly answerable to their constituents over the whole of a Parliament, not just every five years.

"Recall will be triggered by a completely restructured Committee on Standards and Privileges that, for the first time in Parliament's history, will contain non-parliamentary members - as I recommended to the Committee on Standards in Public Life last July. Our proposals will help to rebuild trust in Parliament and put more power where it belongs - in the hands of the people".

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Full-time candidate...

Well, it is over... twelve and a half years of my business career (on and off!) have come to an end. I am now a full time Parliamentary Candidate for Salisbury and it is very exciting to be campaigning for the election. I am glad to have had a decent career in business - back in 2000 when I was a newly selected 26 year old candidate, standing in the South West at the following General Election, I remember thinking how important it would be for me to gain more experience of life. My consulting career took me abroad, into the energy and renewables industry and to the World Economic Forum where I absorbed a lot of useful information and perspectives. I will now devote myself to Salisbury... that is not to say I have not done this over the past 31 days since I was selected...
...after a hectic week tidying up things in London and visiting Amesbury Cllrs on Wednesday I attended a Branch event on Friday evening followed by a night on the tiles - well on the cold slabs of the cloisters of Salisbury Cathedral. It was a fundraising "sleep out" event for Salisbury's Alabare charity. Forty or so people - mostly younger members of the local community - were sleeping out to show empathy for the homeless and raise sponsorship money for the Charity. I was so exhausted I managed to sleep a few hours but the rain and cold kept me awake for most of the 4am onwards slot plus the fact I had a cold did not help. I was quite humbled as I walked out of The Close at 7 am by two senior citizens who looked as if they had had a great night's sleep and were off for a day walking.
A quick shower and the rest of Saturday morning was my first "surgery" in the centre - this term always amuses me. Like all candidates I have no authority to dispense assistance until/if the people give me some on May 6th so I just wanted to make myself available to shoppers. I had a great reception. I will be there come rain or shine every Saturday morning from now on. I met Robert Key on my walkabout - he introduced me to a few of his friends and I look forward to meeting the Traders Association in a few weeks.
This week involved a campaign meeting last night in Morrison Hall...after a briefing in Wilton earlier in the afternoon. I won't have many moments spare now before the election. We take up the lease on my house in central Salisbury in 9 days. I can't wait.
The election now seems certain to be May 6th - my "prediction" for March 25th seems to have been wide of the mark... 64 days to go....

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