Dear Copeland and to all concerned,

I’m an activist at heart and that’s what I want to come home to focus on.  I never sought to become a career politician or Parliamentarian and hope you will understand that whilst much has been achieved from Parliament and Whitehall, there remains a great deal to keep me gainfully occupied in West Cumbria.

I applied to become the Conservative candidate because I wanted to tackle some particularly knotty local issues.  The hospital where I was born, where my four daughters were born was threatened with closure and the journey up to Carlisle, the nearest delivery unit, was an unthinkable distance away. Thankfully after a huge campaign and some £140 million invested, pregnant women, new mothers and their babies will continue to be cared for at their most local hospital.

There were also particular injustices at Whitehaven Academy, with a failing building and an ineffective multi-academy trust. With the staunch support of the Whitehaven Academy Action Group and some £20 million of Government investment we now have both a brand new facility and, testament to the head Nigel Youngman, the teachers, students and wider community, the secondary school has recently been rated Good by Ofsted.

In Millom the community desperately wanted to secure the funds for a new swimming pool, and in Cleator Moor, Leconfield Industrial Estate lay partially abandoned and a far cry from the buzzing hive of activity that West Cumbria deserves. Unleashing Northern potential and a Treasury Green Book re-write facilitated some fresh thinking. Securing over £70 million for these two communities via two successful Towns Fund bids and Levelling Up funding, coupled with Sellafield investment, is going to be transformational. I also pledged to bring in further flood resilience money, in particular for the frequently flooded towns of Keswick and Egremont, both are now benefitting from multi-million pound Government funding via our partners including the Environment Agency for both conventional flood defences and nature based solutions.

By far the greatest priority to effect positive change in West Cumbria is civil nuclear. If you remember in February 2017 the then Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn had been caught on camera, some years earlier, advocating the decommissioning of all existing nuclear power stations with firm instructions not to build any new facilities. In 2017 the Conservative Party were also rather luke warm on atomic energy with Hinckley Point C under question and Moorside looking unlikely, those were the old days and this is the turnaround I’m most proud of.

Everyday when I was Boris Johnson’s PPS I advocated for a nuclear solution.

On Levelling Up, the nuclear industry creates high paid jobs and apprenticeships outside of London and the South East.

In rural and coastal areas, the sector provides long-term socio-economic benefits to the regional supply chain, it values precision skills and advanced manufacturing.

Of course Net Zero needs nuclear. There is simply no other clean, power generation which operates 24 hours a day, every day of the week, for some sixty decades or more, that has been proved to work at a large scale - safely, securely and sustainably.

And more importantly than at any point in my lifetime, in the face of Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, nuclear power provides us with essential national energy security.

During my first debate in Parliament I championed the good work of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) whilst calling for an additional Government agency for new missions.  So I was thrilled to attend the official launch of Great British Nuclear on 18th July reaffirming the Powering Up Britain, Energy Security Plan with a reassuring long-term commitment of 24GW of nuclear power by 2050, which would provide around a quarter of our clean electricity.

As Transport Minister I led on the Transport Decarbonisation Plan which will need vast generation and transmission capability upgrades to keep us moving – nuclear power provides both net zero electricity and a means to produce hydrogen and synthetic aviation fuels.  This is all part of the Government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.

And as Defra’s Environment Minister I have led on the publication and implementation of the Environmental Improvement Plan which will help us to halt the decline of species by increasing much needed habitat, including planting more hedgerows, woodlands, grasslands and wetlands.  And in doing so, also improving the quality of our air, water and soil.  All three are fundamental to life on our planet.

We are doing this in partnership with our farmers, because seventy percent of England is farmed.

Farmers are now able to be paid via our Environmental Land Management schemes and green finance to look after their land, whilst continuing to produce the highest quality food.  In my home county of Cumbria, farms are symbolic of our cultural heritage and are utterly vital for both our economy and our environment.

These policies are game changing, they are truly transformational National policies and many are now underpinned by UK law including the Levelling Up Strategy; Power up Britain: Energy Security Plan; Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution; Great British Nuclear and a 24GW commitment to nuclear power by 2050; Transport Decarbonisation Plan; Environmental Improvement Plan.

As a Government Minister I frequently visit projects around the country.  I see the difference that a well co-ordinated, ambitious, professional and determined business community can make, and that is what I very much hope to come home to do.  To once again be part of a ‘can-do’ team in my area.

The Government’s recent policies are what West Cumbria needs to thrive and I’ll be able to use my policy knowledge, system thinking skills, national and international contacts and most importantly local connections to ensure we reap the benefits of those national changes.

Of course I still have much work to do, with potentially a further year to eighteen months left before a General Election. I have every intention of working hard, both as a Minister serving in Rishi Sunak’s Government and Copeland’s MP until the very last day, my foot will remain firmly on the throttle.

But before I leave, I do have an additional focus, I want to champion more people getting outside.

I know first hand the mental and physical benefits of getting close to nature and the great outdoors.  

In DfT as the Walking and Cycling Minister I was responsible for the creation of Active Travel England, tasking Chris Boardman MBE as our National Walking and Cycling Commissioner.

And now, in Defra I am the Minister for the Natural Environment including National Parks, AONBs, National Trails, Public Rights of Way and other aspects of accessing nature.

We have put into law, through the Environment Act a commitment that everyone, wherever they live, shall be within a fifteen minute walk of nature either on water or land.  We call that Blue and Green in 15.

We have the third most obese population in Europe with all the serious and life-limiting conditions and restrictions that brings, yet our country’s landscape is incredible and already quite accessible.

My priority is not just encouraging, but positively enabling more people to be more active in the, often low cost or no cost, Great British outdoors.  This is especially important for young children - for their neurological development, well-being and physical health, but the benefits of a healthier, more active nation would be felt by everyone who gets involved.

I’ll be embarking on a 182 mile Wainwright’s Coast to Coast from West Cumbria’s St Bees to North Yorkshire’s Robin Hood’s Bay – soon to become a National Trail.  Perhaps ironically this was the very first conversation I had with our now Prime Minister, sometime in Spring 2017, when we were both back benchers.  As the new constituency MP for one end of the route, Rishi wanted to secure my support for the National Trail designation and now, as Access Minister in Defra it falls to me to ensure it’s completion before October 2024.

I therefore know that the Prime Minister values an active lifestyle and the great outdoors, as I do.

Finally and whilst this is far from a sign off, I would like to recognise the unwavering love and support of my husband Keith and our daughters, my family and friends.  And whether I secured their cross on the box or not, my constituents.  The highlight of this job is visiting businesses and community groups and especially the schools across Copeland, I never fail to be impressed by the enthusiasm of children, their in-depth knowledge and passion for the environment.

My loyal and fantastic constituency and Parlimentary office staff have been with me for years and all work so diligently, ably led by Mike Graham who day after day ensures our small team answers queries, deals with a huge volume of varied casework and arranges my many visits across Copeland.

Every MP has a local association and in ours we are fortunate to have Cllr Andy Pratt as Chairman and other councillors and members who serve our community, organise fund-raisers, deliver leaflets, canvas, provide guidance on local matters, and rally the troops on polling day!  It’s very much a team effort and we always have fun whilst also tackling the serious matters of political life.

When I do leave Parliament I know I shall miss my colleagues deeply, across the Commons and the Lords, having worked with brilliant people in both Houses – it’s a funny place, with many peculiarities – I still find myself lost, finding new staircases and hidden corridors and also strange ‘Conventions of the House’.  And I must say a few words about the dedicated Civil Service who, in my experience work impartially yet professionally each and every day, and often at weekends.  I have been blessed to have worked with hundreds if not thousands of hard-working and highly effective officials, whom I  will stay in touch with, hoping the promise of Lake District beauty brings them up North for visits.

But in the meantime, no time for slacking, there is much work to be done and I’m still very much firing on all cylinders, as my old Dad would have said.