I congratulate the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on his appointment.

Our country can be proud of this historic moment, the first UK Prime Minister of Asian heritage. There is immediate work to be done and I am making robust representations to the new Prime Minister on behalf of the people of Crawley, just as I did when he held his previous role as Chancellor of the Exchequer during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Already I welcome House of Commons commitments from the new Prime Minister of the ‘brownfield first’ strategy for building new homes, on simplifying registration for dentists who have not trained here so that they can practise here, and reassurances of continued investment in public services such as the NHS. There are over 3,700 more doctors and 9,100 more nurses in the NHS since August 2021.

While the national and international press have been encamped outside Number 10 over the last few days, my focus has remained on my work locally and in Parliament.

I was grateful for the opportunity to meet with Help for Heroes to find out more about their Live Well 2032 Strategy, which seeks to ensure that the Armed Forces community are valued, supported and recognised, and continue to live well after service.

Following our discussions I am following up with the Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace. His reappointment to this position by the new Prime Minister is welcome. I look forward to representing Crawley at the House of Commons Constituency Garden of Remembrance next week.

I have also put forward an amendment to legislation where I am seeking to improve animal welfare measures, and have worked alongside the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation in doing so.

In recent days I spoke in Parliament to reiterate the call to ban the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening, and I was pleased to meet with the Dogs Trust in support of work to tackle puppy smuggling.

One of the Government’s key pledges was to get 20,000 more police officers on the street by next March, with new figures confirming over 15,000 new officers throughout the 43 police forces across England and Wales.

Locally, more than 300 officers have been recruited by Sussex Police as part of this drive to keep people safe.

Henry Smith MP