Comment: Back to school

It’s that time of year again. New uniforms and stationery have been purchased, shoes have been polished, and alarms are set once more. This week the children return to school and MPs are also heading back to Westminster.

Over the summer recess, I held a series of wellbeing walks across the constituency: in Fishbourne Harbour, along Centurion’s Way to Lavant, on Selsey Beach and along Chichester Canal. My inbox can sometimes feel a bit like TripAdvisor, mostly hearing from people who are either delighted or frustrated with particular issues, but my job is to be accessible to every constituent, not just those who reach out. The walks gave me the chance to hear from people I might not otherwise have met across different parts of the constituency. They have been both enjoyable and a valuable opportunity to chat through the issues impacting our communities, and I’d like to thank everyone who came along and shared their time and views with me.

Jess Brown-Fuller at the end of her wellbeing walk in Selsey

Despite this being the beginning of my third year in Westminster, the excitement and anticipation I feel when entering the House of Commons remains. It is still the honour and privilege of my life to represent the constituency of Chichester in that venerable chamber.

Returning this time feels very similar to 2024. A new Prime Minister, new faces around the Cabinet table, but many unknowns.

Underpinning Keir Starmer’s exit as Prime Minister was a failure to get to grips with the issues that affect people up and down the country, and an inability to make people feel that things were improving. It remains next to impossible to get an appointment with an NHS dentist, there aren’t enough GPs to match demand and the challenges facing social care remain unresolved.

Residents locally feel that development is unchecked, with infrastructure, such as road and rail, lagging behind while communities are expected to absorb hundreds more homes. A good deal of my time over the summer was spent in frustrating meetings about sewerage capacity for new developments like Highgrove in Bosham and the Clappers Lane site in Earnley, with developers and water companies blaming the other!

If Andy Burnham can't get to grips with these issues as soon as possible, the shine will wear off quickly. People are sick and tired of promises and new Prime Ministers! They want their daily lives to feel easier, they want public services to work for them, they want their rivers and seas to be sewage-free and they want the country to move beyond the divisive politics that have become all too common.

I'm back in the constituency over the weekend and I'm looking forward to a Q&A session with residents in East Wittering and Bracklesham on Saturday morning. I hope to see lots of you there!