Weekly Meeting

Part of our Rotary remit is keeping up to date and engaged with communities – both locally and more widely.  So last week we were pleased to welcome Chris Hinchliff MP as our Guest Speaker.  Chris was elected as MP for North Hertfordshire in 2024 and, although some of our members had met him before in his earlier role between 2022 and 2024 as a North Herts Councillor for Royston Palace Ward, for most of us it was a first opportunity to meet him. On this occasion some Rotarian friends from Letchworth Howard and Royston Clubs joined us, as did spouses and friends of some Rotarians and Councillor Alistair Willoughby accompanied Chris.

Chris has degrees in History from Cambridge and Ecological Economics from Edinburgh Universities and. prior to his election to Parliament, was policy and campaign manager for the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

As the theme for his talk Chris chose to talk about his first year in Parliament and, in an illuminating and sometimes humorous address presented us with some entertaining vignettes of life in Westminster, especially the experiences of a new MP!

Firstly, as a new MP it is some time before one gets an office, usually waiting for the previous incumbent to clear out and vacate the premises. Then one must learn the particular forms of address to be used depending on the status, role and even the profession of the fellow MP to whom you are speaking in the House. As expected, an MP receives a vast number of E-Mails which have to be dealt with promptly.  MPs spend much time on case work, on chasing up policy issues and various other challenges. In parliamentary debates, there may be occasions when an MP is not called by the Speaker which can be frustrating when he or she considers the issue being debated to be important. A plus point, though is being appointed to work with a Select Committee.

An interesting question is what do we, as the electorate, really wish to prioritise with our MP’s?  Some might say party loyalty while others would prioritise the public role of looking after constituents – truly a dilemma when party line and the constituent request may be at odds! Elections in UK are generally decided on the basis of national party banners and manifestos at the time.

Although elected as Labour MP, Chris currently sits as an independent member having had the Whip withdrawn in July.

After his informative talk, Chris ably answered a variety of questions directly from the floor.

Baldock Rotary Club thanks Chris for his visit and talk after which we all feel better informed about what actually goes on in Parliament!