Julian Smith: Our county has to be heard in corridors of Westminster

IT is now over six months since I was elected and what a six months it has been. When I wrote on these pages about my first 100 days, I reflected on the honour I felt to represent such a beautiful and distinctive part of our country and the fact I had a lot still to learn about life at Westminster. Both of those feelings remain as we end 2010.

As someone coming from outside politics to Westminster it has been fascinating to see how the political process works. There are so many ways at Westminster to represent Skipton and Ripon, and to promote the needs of our region.

Through our collective Yorkshire MP meetings with the Cabinet, via Parliamentary oral and written questions and through debates, there is a need to relentlessly communicate and re-communicate to Ministers the needs of our area. Our country is massively imbalanced North to South and I believe one of the biggest roles of Yorkshire MPs is to get the best deal for Yorkshire.

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After the years of Labour excess, there is less money to go round and, at every turn, be it high speed rail, roads, hospitals, schools or broadband, we need to get the message out that our county and, in my case, my very rural constituency must be heard and must receive its fair share.

I have now spoken dozens of times in the Chamber of the House of Commons, I have asked hundreds of questions and still some of the Westminster ways of working can be baffling. Parliament's traditions date back hundreds of years and many have stood the test of time.

But some of the rituals feel part of a different age – for example, can it really be conducive to good law-making at midnight?

There are two recent big campaign wins that I am really proud of.

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One of the first decisions taken by the new Government that directly affected Skipton was the proposal to close the town's magistrates' and county court. I am delighted that the decision has now been taken to keep it open, one of only 10 magistrates' courts and five county courts in the whole country to win a reprieve.

I believed it was the wrong decision to consider it for closure and launched a campaign, backed by judges, solicitors, magistrates, charities, unions and more, to keep them open.

Lobbying government hard has also been successful in attracting one of the four superfast broadband pilots to Yorkshire. Improving broadband access is something I have received letters and e-mails about from day one.

So I was delighted that the county was chosen as one of the pilot areas for rolling out better internet access and was pleased that MPs from across North Yorkshire, of different parties, came together to try and persuade Ministers to give the green light.

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I am hosting a conference on the issue in February in Ripon – more information can be found at www.broadbandnorthyorkshire.com.

By the end of this Parliament, superfast broadband across North Yorkshire will have transformed the prospects for this part of our region.

The representative role of an MP is combined with scrutinising legislation. The Government has started at a fast pace with measures transforming welfare, devolving power of councils, health and schools much closer to communities, re-balancing our relationship with Europe and bills dealing with the massive deficit.

While being a committed supporter of the Government, it is my job, along with other MPs to challenge and raise issues about this legislation. Given the recent pace there has been a lot to read, many arguments to listen to and many representations to consider.

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Expenses continue to be a challenge as, even with the new reforms, the integrity of MPs is questioned. A new body – IPSA – was set up to be independent of Parliament, to be different and to make sure that the expenses system for MPs run just like expenses in any other major business.

I fully support that independence and believe we should be as transparent as possible. But it is also important to record that MPs I have met on all sides of the house are working incredibly hard, are committed to public service and I believe we must be careful not to put off a future generation of able, decent people from ever wanting to stand for election.

This has been a dramatic year for me as it has been for the country. I am pleased that I have managed to achieve positive results to some of the issues I have campaigned on, I know there is always more to do and not every battle can be won.

But in 2011 and beyond, I will be working hard to do the best job possible for Skipton and Ripon, and for Yorkshire, to prove to my constituents that their MP can make a difference.

Julian Smith is the Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon