Reflections on Standing Down

Part 1
On the edge of leaving Parliament, as I reflect on achievements and mistakes and things I wish had been different, looking back over the last twelve years is inevitably a bitter-sweet experience. The reflections here are not an exhaustive record of my time as the MP for North Swindon and more about that can be found elsewhere on this website. Nor are they intended to be a justification for my time in Parliament or for the government - constituents are well able to make up their own minds about that, for better or worse, without any help...
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Part 2
Swindon Borough Council And that brings me onto Swindon Borough Council itself. Inevitably, a very large part of my time as the North Swindon MP has been taken up dealing with the Council. The great majority of requests for help that I receive from constituents are about council failings and although the ward councillors should be able to deal with such complaints all too often they don’t and so residents turn to their MP for assistance. And Swindon Borough Council has had such a troubled time since it took over from Thamesdown in 1997 that inevitably my reflections on my...
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