The privileges and pitfalls of my first year in Parliament - Kim Leadbeater MP

A year ago yesterday, in the early hours of the morning, I was driving to the count in Huddersfield not knowing one way or the other whether I would be elected as the MP for the area where I was born and have always lived.

I put myself forward for the job because I genuinely wanted to make a difference to the community I love. On a personal level, I would have been disappointed if I’d lost, but life would have gone on and I would have found another way to create positive change.

It had been a pretty intense by-election, but I was bruised, not broken. I’ve certainly learnt how resilient I am. I also thrive on hard work. Which is probably just as well as I’ve never worked harder in my life. I like variety too, which is a bonus, as every day is different.

However, the way you have to switch so quickly between such a wide range of different and important issues can be quite overwhelming. I find myself preparing for a speech on the cost of living crisis or Palestine one minute then answering constituents’ emails about speeding drivers or school places the next. I can be chairing a meeting on loneliness before going straight into a discussion about how to bring much needed investment into Batley and Spen to help regenerate our town centres.

The good news is that, while yours is the name on the ballot paper, politics at its best is a team effort. I deliberately took time to appoint my staff locally because they are my eyes and ears when I have to be at Westminster, and usually the first point of contact when constituents have cases they want looking into. And they are brilliant.

Since my office in Heckmondwike was established my team and I have responded to nearly 11,000 emails and dealt with well over 5,000 separate pieces of casework. The issues are wide and varied – housing, immigration, passports, anti-social behaviour, the NHS, schools and much, much more.

I quickly realised that most people have very little idea what an MP actually does, and more importantly what they can and cannot do for them. I don’t blame anybody for that at all – we are not really taught about such things at school. Because of this, I have become a passionate believer in political education. I think it is hugely important to know about how our country works, and how it can be made to work better for everyone.

It’s a privilege to represent the people from where you live, and it’s very rewarding when you help sort out a planning issue, or get someone their passport in time or speak up for them in Parliament. Last week my pressure on Ministers to agree to ‘Zach’s Law’ protecting people with epilepsy from online harm succeeded. It was lovely to be able to speak to Zach at his home in Hartshead and tell him the good news.

And this week we started the ball rolling in a campaign to bring childhood cancer vaccine trials to the UK so the families of kids like little Beau in my constituency don’t have to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for treatment in America.

I have been very pleased to have been able to continue my enthusiasm for physical activity, health and wellbeing into my new life as an MP. I train most weeks with the women’s all-party football team. I also co-chair the all-party parliamentary group on running, as well as being a member of other groups including rugby league, a fit and healthy childhood, and mental health.

The other core value that I brought with me into the job was a belief in strong, united communities that bring people together, enhance everybody’s quality of life, and drive out extremism. In the by-election there were those who came into the area seeking to cause division. Thanks to the good sense of the people of Batley and Spen they didn’t succeed.

Sadly, we do see some pretty poor behaviour from some people in and around politics; social media is an obvious example. I have been deeply shocked by the amount of abuse, threats and intimidation MPs and others in the public eye receive on a daily basis. I’m not asking for sympathy, and it’s not just MPs or people with a public profile who are the target of people’s anger and frustration.

Many people who have regular contact with the public get it, whether it’s health care workers, taxi drivers or the person on the till at the supermarket. I didn’t really go on social media before I was elected, but while it has major downsides it’s an effective way of communicating, so I see its importance in this job. I can’t say I enjoy it much though. I certainly don’t like seeing things written about me which are not true – they are more upsetting than the personal insults in some ways.

I wish people would understand that it is not appropriate for everything an MP does to be in the public domain. Much of what we do is quite rightly between us and our constituents.

I came into the House of Commons later in life and I’m pretty tough. What worries me is that the abuse MPs are subjected to will put talented young people off even considering public service as a career, especially if they’re women or BAME or both.

The last 12 months have been such a rollercoaster that I haven’t had chance to reflect – something which I think is really important in life. So I plan to take some much needed time off over summer and think about my work-life balance; at the moment there isn’t one, and I know more than most how precious time with your family and friends is.

I am proud to be from Batley and Spen and of my Yorkshire roots. I love my country. But I think that Britain deserves better than the current government, so if I can play my part in making a difference locally and nationally then I will continue to give the job my very best I can.