Newspaper column 30 July 2020 - Summer Recess

Parliament has now broken up for the Summer Recess and after a busy last week in Westminster, including my first ever Prime Minister’s Question, in which the PM highlighted money from the Towns Fund that Truro will be receiving in response to my question on support for communities as we continue to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the many misconceptions about the work that MPs do is that we are on holiday when Parliament is not sitting.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Although a major part of my role as Member of Parliament for Truro and Falmouth is to represent you and the area we live in in Parliament itself, scrutinising and voting on the laws of the land, it is equally important for me to be able to be on the ground in our constituency, ensuring I am connected to the issues that matter to you and can represent you on local as well as national issues.

As MP’s we are required to be in Parliament, when it is sitting, for at least four days a week. When you factor in travelling times to and from Cornwall, this means I normally only have one or two days to spend in the constituency when Parliament is sitting.

So Recess times, when Parliament is not sitting, are very important for MPs, as it gives us time to go around our constituencies, meet with local people and businesses, and focus on the local and national matters that are important to you.

This is particularly important to me as a new MP. Normally when MP’s are first elected the first few months are spent catching up with all of the major businesses and organisations in the constituency. Sadly but unavoidably, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown, I have been unable to do this to the degree that I would have otherwise liked to.

So this Summer Recess will be particularly important to me as it will allow me to get out 

there and meet with and speak to so many different people and businesses without having to do it virtually or having to rush back up to Parliament every few days.

I have already visited Falmouth Docks to see the work done there and joined local police in Truro on their beat to see first hand the challenges they face.

Of course another thing that I will be able to do moving forwards is work in my new office, which is on William Street in Truro, this will be a nice change from working from home, but it will be good to work from there with my team from now on, as we are able to socially distance and adjust to this new normal.

I look forward to being in Cornwall for the summer and well as getting out about across our constituency over the next few weeks  - please do get in touch if you would like me to visit your business or organisation and I do my best to book something in.

Please continue to stay safe. If you need my assistance with anything, please get in touch at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk, or on 01872 229698 or you can write to me by letter at Lemon Chapel, William Street, Truro, TR1 2ED.