I was immensely proud to make my maiden speech in Parliament this week.

It is an absolute honour to represent the people of West Lancashire and I wanted to reflect this in the first speech I made from the green benches.

Championing the work of local people is so important to me, that’s why I wanted to tell the stories of Sandra, Paula and Maureen, Rossi, and Jo. Their stories of success in the middle of the cost of living crisis are proof of the ambition and innovation that exists in our communities. That’s why I was so disappointed with the Government’s Spring Budget, which failed to match the ambition of the British people and serves only as a sticking plaster on 13 years of failure.

I will always stand up for what matters to the people of West Lancashire.

I was also really pleased to open my speech by paying tribute to my predecessor Rosie Cooper and her years of service to West Lancashire. Rosie always conducted herself with respect and dignity and her work in introducing the British Sign Language Act 2022 gave a voice to so many.