A few months ago, as I stood at the door of the Village Hotel in Hyde greeting people as they arrived for my Fresh Ideas event, a constituent took my hand and said: ‘Jonathan, I watch all of your speeches, but why have you started speaking from the front of the chamber when at the start you did them all from the back?’. Smiling, I lowered my head to reveal my ever-growing balding spot, and told her that that it was a simple vanity exercise in trying to find the most flattering camera angle. She thought it was hilarious, but I wasn’t entirely joking.

As well as thinning my hair, being an MP for a year has changed me in many ways. Simply being immersed in Westminster and growing familiar with its practices, routines and traditions breeds confidence in what you’re doing. Particularly pleasing is when you start to learn how to use the appropriate parliamentary devices to raise an issue you are concerned about. When a constituent came to see me who worked for the Forensic Science Service and told me the government were planning to close it down, it looked to me like a poor decision. After visiting the Northern Firearms Unit where he worked, and finding out they had played a crucial role in my constituency over several years, I started raising the issue in the chamber. Many MPs, including government MPs, shared my concerns and I ended up calling a debate on the government’s plans and speaking to local media up and down the country. The government haven’t changed their mind yet, but I felt I made an impact.
There are also other ways to get things done back in your constituency. A veteran Labour MP told me a wonderful story that after he has waited a reasonable amount of time for a piece of casework to be resolved, if it hasn’t been then he sends the offending party a letter telling them he will raise it on the floor of the House of Commons within seven days. Their compliance is nearly always forthcoming.

Some eccentricities of the place still cause amusement. On the day we were anticipating the House of Lords sending amendments back to the fixed-term parliaments bill, I was sat in committee when I received a message from the opposition whips’ office. ‘We need two members for the Reasons Committee tonight’ it read. ‘What does the Reasons Committee do?’ I sent back, a fair question I thought. ‘It gives the Lords the reasons we are rejecting their amendments, if we do so’ came the answer, so I put myself on it. When the vote came just after 10pm that night, the speaker read out the names of the MPs on the Reasons Committee, and that it would sit immediately. Panicking, I dashed over to a senior colleague: ‘Where will the meeting be held?’ I enquired. ‘In the Reasons Room, of course’ came the bemused answer. And so it transpired there is a special room at the rear of the chamber, adjacent to the division lobbies, for this very purpose. The meeting only lasted a few minutes (our reason was basically: we’ve been elected guys, end of), but took much longer to convey as it had to be taken away and written on special paper. Marvellous.

It’s not all comedic, though. Being away from the family when parliament is sitting is still hard, even though I always feel I need to state that my work-life balance has probably improved on the whole, such were the late nights I worked in my old job. I’m also lucky in that my wife has been on maternity leave and so has been able to spend time with me, and as her professional life has seen her do stints working for an MP, an MEP and a prime minister, she understands what I do very well. I call her the first special adviser wife (SPIFE?) and as with a lot of demanding jobs I think having strong support away from work is vital to your wellbeing.

There’s no doubt one of the more difficult points of the year was the campaign around the AV referendum. Having spoken in defence of electoral reform at many CLPs over the years, I was in no doubt about the unpopularity of the issue among large sections of the party. Supporting a Yes vote put me on the opposite site to many of my friends, my local party, and most of my family. But my support for reform goes back to some of my earliest political experiences growing up under Thatcherism, and I knew sitting this one out was not an option for me personally. If you’re going to be an MP you have to be able to make some tough calls at times, and I know even those constituents who think AV is the worst idea known to man respected the fact I was willing to take an independent view on an issue I care about. Plus the result was conclusive enough to put it to rest for a good few decades…

It’s hard to pick out one particular highlight from the last year, but, if pushed, making my maiden speech was hard to beat. Hundreds of people have seen it (mainly thanks to YouTube) and more than one member of my family told me they were moved to tears to see me, one of their own, speaking in the House of Commons. The Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, where an MP can spend 20+ days a year with one of the branches of the armed forces, has also been immensely enjoyable.

Unexpectedly, it’s been an opportunity to get to know a few MPs from the other side in an environment outside of Westminster, including some memorable moments riding a tank in Dorset and inspecting the Royal Artillery’s kit on Salisbury Plain. Most of all, I really do enjoy simply being the local MP when I’m out and about at weekends, especially as when you start to get more widely recognised people are more willing to come up and talk to you at civic and community events. As long as you genuinely enjoy this part of the job, and being a campaigner in your constituency, being an MP is a fantastic experience. I’m very pleased with how the last year has gone.

Photo: jonathanreynolds.org.uk