Business of the House

Anna Firth Excerpts

Thursday 11th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for her remarks. The moral of the story is that when the chief execs of such social housing providers receive letters from Members of Parliament, they would do well to reply to them in good time, otherwise Members of Parliament will come to the Floor of the House and name the social housing provider, and the Leader of the House of Commons will be forced to write to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to make sure that they have heard Members’ concerns. I wish the hon. Lady well and we stand ready to assist her in getting the matter resolved for her constituents.

[Anna Firth (Southend West) (Con)]

May I start by passing on the many messages of congratulations and thanks from Southend residents to my right hon. Friend on her absolutely outstanding contribution to the coronation?

While I am talking about outstanding contributions, the mayor of Southend city, Councillor Kevin Robinson, steps down this afternoon after an exemplary year in which he welcomed the King and city status, bade farewell to our Queen, and raised £26,000 for charity—while all the time working full time as a dementia nurse. Will the Leader of the House join me in thanking Mayor Robinson for his outstanding service? Will she also thank the 500 Essex police officers who worked behind the scenes at Stansted airport to make sure that the very many foreign dignitaries from all around the world got into and out of our country safely? Perhaps we could have a debate on the important contribution that mayors and other civic leaders make to our communities.

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend and the residents of Southend for their very kind remarks about me. As I am sure all Members would, I of course join her in saying thank you, well done and good luck for the next chapter to Mayor Robinson. I thank him for all the work he has done. I also thank my hon. Friend for giving us another example of the many hundreds of people who contributed towards making the weekend such a success, in particular by enabling 95 Heads of State to visit and celebrate such a special moment. We send them all our thanks.