Valedictory Debate

Will Quince Excerpts

Friday 24th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince (Colchester) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow my dear and hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Dehenna Davison).

It has been the honour of my life to serve as Colchester’s Member of Parliament for the past nine years, the last four and a half of which I have been a Government Minister at the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care. I put on the record my sincere thanks to my superb, hard-working constituency team, the brilliant civil servants with whom I have had the pleasure of working, my local Conservative association, and all those who have supported me in so many ways over many years. Together—I genuinely mean together—we have achieved so much.

Locally, our work has included dealing with over 70,000 cases on behalf of local residents on a wide range of issues; securing £40 million of Government town deal and levelling-up funding to regenerate our city; getting over £75 million of investment into Colchester Hospital, including for an upgraded accident and emergency department and a new orthopaedic surgical centre; getting multimillion-pound investments in the arts and in road and rail infrastructure; and securing city status for Colchester. Britain’s first capital city under the Romans is a city once more.

Nationally, our work includes all war graves now falling under the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in perpetuity; the tampon tax fund, which led to funding of over £86 million going to support women’s health charities; establishing the all-party parliamentary group on baby loss; introducing groundbreaking parental bereavement leave legislation; helping to create the household support fund, which has made over £2.5 billion available for families in need; introducing reforms to childcare, children’s social care and provision for special educational needs and disabilities; working alongside brilliant NHS staff to reduce waiting lists and improve urgent and emergency care; and cementing the UK’s status as a life sciences superpower.

This job, for all its challenges, has given me the opportunity to bring about change and make a difference. I feel deeply honoured to have been able to work to improve life chances for children, in particular. Of course, I am sad to be leaving Parliament and politics today. Despite knowing that it is without doubt the right decision for me and my family, there is much that I will miss about serving as Colchester’s Member of Parliament, not least having the opportunity to meet and help so many local residents and to work with parliamentary colleagues on both sides of the House.

I will conclude with a handful more thank-yous: to all the staff and security here at the Houses of Parliament; to my wonderful, supportive family, without whom, frankly, I would not have been able to do this job—especially my wife, Elinor; and, last but by no means least, to the people of Colchester. I thank them for electing me, for putting their trust in me, and for giving me the opportunity to serve them in the best job in the world. I wish my successor all the very best.