New Government assembles

Last week I was very pleased to have been confirmed as a Government Whip. I had the added pleasure of presiding as whip on duty on the Government front-bench during the re-election of the Speaker.

This was the first sitting of the new Parliament, with 237 new MPs. I sat on the Government front-bench for the first time, with half my Conservative colleagues also enjoying being in the Chamber for the first time.

As the new Prime Minister said, many of us are sitting next to new colleagues for the first time. Having contested the Ludlow constituency against a vigorous LibDem campaign, there is some irony in my appointment as departmental whip to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Scottish Secretary - Nick Clegg and his former chief of staff Danny Alexander.

I see no problem with this. While local contests may have been closely fought, in Parliament no MP has been contesting their seat against any other MP. So we often enjoy good relations with our political opponents.

This makes it much easier for us to work together. I look forward to working with these Cabinet Ministers who each has responsibility for turning constitutional proposals into law.

The coalition agreement in full was also published last week. It can be found online at: http://programmeforgovernment/2010/05.coalitionagreement.pdf

On Tuesday the Queen's Speech will reveal the new government's priorities for the next eighteen months. Now the hard work begins.