It does seem like more than just 2 weeks since the General Election, but our new Government has hit the ground running. It was an election which was not just about changing the government but a moment to change our country for the better.

I am honoured to have been re-elected as the MP for Tynemouth. Tynemouth was previously a Conservative seat to now having the second highest Labour majority in the North East which suggests we must be doing something right.

No sooner was my result declared then I was heading to Westminster to work on the new administration. It is a privilege to have been appointed by PM Keir Starmer to the post of Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury – the official title for the Government Chief Whip. I must admit how surreal it felt to walk up Downing St and how it feels to sit around the Cabinet table. A Cabinet with direction and purpose that will drive our country forward.

I have always been conscious that after a hectic General Election campaign voters and volunteers return to their daily lives with renewed hope for the future. I am also conscious that my party won votes and seats in areas never won by Labour before and that many people who voted Labour this time had never done so before. All of that means that we need to work hard to deliver what we promised to deliver and in doing so commit to service for everyone and every part of the country however they voted in the election.