Dear Reader
Throughout 2025 my postbag has reflected the pressures facing families, pensioners, and businesses alike. Soaring high street prices and energy costs together with economic uncertainty have been the core of concerns, with illegal immigration, particularly via small boats, adding to community tensions.
Government U-turns and ill-judged policies this year have reinforced the importance of strong and effective opposition, to hold them to account and expose incompetence. The winter fuel payment debacle, the cancellation of certain local elections and the failure to address the welfare bill were all sorry precursors to the most economically destabilising run-up to a budget I have ever witnessed. And now, the Government’s recognition that they have made a serious mistake with their farm tax policy.
My work on the Conservative front bench as Shadow Solicitor general has probed particular questions such as the wall of Government silence following the Southport attacks, the potential professional conflicts and transparency of the Attorney General, and most recently the Justice Secretary’s plans to scrap jury trials.
Thankfully 2025 has been the year the Conservative Party, under Kemi Badenoch, has begun to release a serious and realistic policy prospectus to deliver a stronger economy and stronger borders for the British people. In that vein, a particular piece of work I have been engaged in has been a review of our membership of the European Convention on Human Rights. Our 180-page report led Kemi and her Shadow Cabinet to conclude we should leave the ECHR, releasing our sovereign nation from the shackles of European Court decisions. Among other striking policies announced so far are the abolition of stamp duty on house purchases, scrapping business rates entirely for high street pubs and shops, and reversing plans for a digital ID card.
This year I have also embarked on three special local campaigns with national relevance. The first is for the creation of a Child Cruelty Register, a campaign led and championed by my constituent Paula Hudgell. This is to ensure that the most horrific perpetrators of child abuse are continuously monitored even after their sentence has ended, as is the case with sex offenders. The second is the Lobular Moon-Shot Project, which was the brainchild of the late Dr Susan Michaelis, where we are calling on the government to allocate specific funding for research into this cruel and very widespread form of breast cancer. I speak from personal experience having been diagnosed and successfully treated for lobular breast cancer over the last two years. The third is a joint campaign with the Kent Messenger group for a fairer Blue Badge System. We are seeking a discretionary parking scheme from local authorities that better supports patients with short-term but life altering illnesses, such as cancer. The current scheme is only for those with conditions lasting more than three years.
Here in the constituency I have, and will continue to, champion the commitments upon which I was elected: protecting our precious green spaces, pushing for improvements to the NHS, seeking greater investment in our schools, supporting local businesses, and making the case for better, more reliable transport links across Kent. I will continue to host regular community outreach surgeries in different parts of Maidstone and Malling.
As we enter the Christmas season my thoughts are with all those affected by conflicts, particularly in Europe and the Middle East, and I pray that 2026 will bring greater stability and peace.
Finally, may I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.
