My five years in parliament have been some of the most politically eventful in living memory, including contentious Brexit votes, a global pandemic and the war in Ukraine. But the first days of September heralded change in our nation of the rarest kind as we marked the arrival not just of a new Prime Minister in Liz Truss but a new monarch in King Charles III, all while mourning the loss of our beloved Queen Elizabeth II.

The death of a monarch and the accession of a new King to the throne is a moment of great constitutional importance as well as national sorrow, and parliament was therefore the stage for a number of key events as we adopted our new Head of State. I was fortunate to return that same week to government, where my ministry, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), had responsibility for the management of the Lying in State. I hope those who wanted to attend from Hornchurch were able to. I was privileged also to sit at the Despatch Box for King Charles’ first televised address to the nation and attend his arrival in Westminster Hall where he was formally received by both the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

This new Carolean era opens in a time of economic difficulty as soaring energy prices drive inflation, and while parliament adjourned for the period of national mourning, work has continued apace to support people. One of the Prime Minister’s first acts was to intervene to reassure families and businesses of the help they will get with energy bills, while appointing a new Health team tasked with driving down waiting times and covid backlogs - something I continue to press locally with primary care providers and Queen’s Hospital.

I mentioned in my last column the Jobs Fair we were intending to host at Queen’s Theatre to help Havering employers and jobseekers. I am pleased to report that the event was a great success and within a couple of days, over 24 job offers had been made, with more in the pipeline. 

I have also received confirmation from Mayor Sadiq Khan that he still intends to sell Hornchurch Police Station - an issue I raised with the Home Secretary in parliament in September given the progress made on police recruitment (we now have 1560 in our police unit, up from 1210 in 2018) and the need for those officers to have a base for community operations.

I met Havering's Borough Fire Commander to discuss how best to prevent the dangerous grass fires that we saw over the summer, and also spoke to home and business owners most affected. I shall be writing to the new Environment Secretary about how farmers can be best incentivised to create fire breaks on their land.

It will take many years for the nation to come to terms with the loss of Queen Elizabeth II, but thanks to the Platinum Jubilee which saw the listing of Hornchurch’s Queen’s Theatre by DCMS, I am very glad that we shall always have a lasting, living memorial to her service in our constituency.