Andrew Lewer MBE MP
Maiden Speech
Word count: 923 words = 7.1 minutes
Thank you [relevant speakers]………………..………………………………………..and may I thank [previous speaker]…………………………… for his speech, heartfelt but obviously rather different than mine.
I am truly honoured to have been chosen as the Member of Parliament for Northampton South. I have big boots to fill, Mr. Speaker, in a town rich with an industrial history of manufacturing boots and shoes. There is not a place in this world where a British man or woman has not left their footprint with a Northampton boot or shoe, whether in a jungle, a mountain, desert or a snow-laden plain. In 1830, there were 40 shoe and boot manufacturers that employed a third of all men in the town. The fortunes of the town’s shoe and boot industry have risen, fallen and risen again. We are left with only a handful of shoe manufacturers, but they produce some of the most exclusive and desirable handmade shoes in the world.
My upbringing, most particularly in Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Ashbourne, taught me the value of tradition. Thus and with the metaphor of footprints, I would like to acknowledge the work of the former member of Northampton South, Mr. David Mackintosh. Although his tenure was short, his impact and footprint of public service to this house and his constituents was not. When I recently visited the Hope Centre, a local homeless and anti poverty charity, he was held in high regard for helping push through the Homeless Reduction Act and his local work on combating homelessness.
The Northampton South seat, as you know Mr. Speaker, was established in 1974 and those who represented the seat are still making their footprints on public life to this day.
Lord Naseby sits in the other place and still has involvement in Northampton public life through his work in Wantage Road with Northamptonshire Cricket. Mr. Tony Clarke, who succeeded Lord Naseby in 1997 is a passionate public servant and served his constituents with distinction and continues to do so today by educating the young adults of the town in the local FE college.
And then Mr. Speaker there is Mr. Brian Binley, well known to many here and still centrally involved with the regeneration programme, Northampton Alive.
Charles Bradlaugh and Spencer Percival are also well known in this chamber. As is Francis Crick, who with James Watson co-discovered DNA which is now the driving force of so many scientific breakthroughs and discoveries.
There are other less well known people like Walter Tull, who played for Northampton Town Football club and for Spurs. He was the British Army’s first Black Army Officer, fighting an falling during Word War I.
Margaret Bonfield sat briefly for Northampton as the first female Cabinet Member of this House. Big shoes to fill indeed.
Mr. Speaker, my constituency of Northampton South is the home of Cosworth, Travis Perkins, Barclaycard and Carlsberg. Prestigious brands and significant employers for the area. I would like to draw your attention to another business. Under the shadow of the Carlsberg plant there is a Phipps Brewery recently re-established the brewery after years of dormancy and a very welcome return it is that. Pickering Phipps the second, served as Member of Parliament for Northampton from 1874 to 1880.
Northampton is one of the fastest growing towns in the country and has been for decades, and it faces great challenges. There are pressures on our public services, on the high street and housing is a major issue. I will be campaigning with my friend the Hon Member of Northampton North for new and better facilities for Northampton General Hospital to meet needs of this rapidly expanding town. We need more housing, better transport infrastructure and more focused regeneration and, as championed by Northampton Borough Council and NCC an emphasis on culture and heritage to bring new vitality to Northampton town centre.
I hope my former experience as a former County Council Leader myself will be of help, but - and here is a link to the debate topic - just a little over a month ago, I was a Member of the European Parliament in Brussels and I have been told I am the only person ever to have served in all three capacities of Council Leader, MEP and MP.
As an MEP I specialized in Culture and Education and Regional Development, where I fought for things that matter to me, such as the possible continuation of the Erasmus + program. I also spent a great deal of time working on the Revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive making the case for avoiding the unnecessary burden of over-regulation while protecting freedom of speech.
I was a reluctant leaver but still believe it is the right choice for the UK. In many ways the complexity of leaving simply underlines how much of our sovereignty we had lost and reminds all of us that our work here is not just about getting a good deal as we leave but being ready to innovate in policy areas that this House has not had the lead on for many, many years. Finally, back to tradition and that of describing one’s Constituency as the most beautiful. Northampton certainly does have some beautiful buildings and fascinating history, notably in the medieval period, but maybe is my non-conformist/Methodist roots coming out when I say much of the beauty lies in its industriousness and how so much and how so much of what the county as a whole has that makes it great but also what challenges us as politicians in the year ahead can be found within its boundaries.
