This morning I had the pleasure of speaking at the AGM of the Conservative Women's Organisation's Eastern Region branch.

The CWO celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2009, making it one of the oldest women's political organisations in the world. While the first woman MP in the House of Commons was a Conservative, as well as the UK's first and second female Prime Ministers, women on the Conservative benches in the House of Commons still remain under-represented.

The CWO remains dedicated to enabling more women to become elected as Members of Parliament and to public office at all levels. They asked me to speak to their Eastern region membership about my journey into politics, the challenges I have faced in my first year and what I hope to achieve from my time in office. I think many women suffer from crises of confidence and worry about the idea of standing up in public and putting themselves up for public scrutiny. However, as I advised,

'My journey in politics began by facing fear and I don’t think that’s gone away... but from taking on that fear, my life has changed more than I could ever have imagined'