The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron)
Thank you, Mr Speaker-Elect. On behalf of the whole House, may I be the first to offer you congratulations on your election? I note this is your second electoral success this month. I have to say that there were times during the general election when I was a little concerned about your safe return to Parliament, but I am glad to see that the mostly Conservative-inclined voters of Buckingham stuck with you. I hope that there will not be too much family strife if I welcome the fact that similarly inclined voters in St James’s ward in the London borough of Westminster did the same thing.
May I also congratulate my friend the hon. Member for Louth and Horncastle (Sir Peter Tapsell) on becoming the Father of the House. He first worked with a Conservative Prime Minister in 1955 when he was personal assistant to Anthony Eden. Famous for his put-downs, he once said to me, on one of our many trips through the No Lobby, “You call yourself a moderniser, but I think that’s rubbish. As far as I can see, you’re just like Harold and Rab.” His knowledge and experience of the House are unmatched, and he is dearly valued. Perhaps not everyone who is here today—those who have not sat through the past two Parliaments—will understand why I say that I believe he is worth his weight in gold.
Mr Speaker-Elect, I know that we were all shocked to learn what happened on Friday to the right hon. Member for East Ham (Mr Timms). Our thoughts should be with him, and we wish him a swift return to health and to his place in this House.
I should like to use this opportunity also to welcome all the newly elected Members of Parliament on both sides of the House. This is a new era for our politics and something of a new start—a chance for a new generation to show just how good this place can be. Everyone knows, Mr Speaker-Elect, that you have a deep respect and affection for this place. You believe in changing the role of Back Benchers and you know how much we need to do to improve the reputation of our Parliament. There will be new challenges, not least with the first coalition Government for 65 years. With 232 new Members of Parliament, this will very much be a new Parliament. We have 72 new women MPs and 16 new Members of Parliament from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, and I am proud that my party played its part in delivering that result. It really does look and feel different; indeed, many of us are sitting next to people we have never sat next to before.
The real tests of this new Parliament will be building trust between Parliament and the people we serve, giving people the power to recall MPs engaged in wrongdoing, and making the right decisions in this House about everything from expenses to pensions to processes—everything necessary to clean up our politics. It is within our gift to do this and it is our responsibility to make sure that we do. I believe we can end the chronic short-termism of the past, we can put national interest ahead of party interest, and we can work together to find solutions to the profound problems facing our nation. Mr Speaker-Elect, you preside over a new Parliament, and we should all be determined to take our country in an historic new direction.
Mr Speaker-Elect: I thank the Prime Minister for that speech, and I call the Leader of the Opposition.