The recent Inside the Commons BBC programme, which gave unique access to the media over a 12 month period, has unlocked, for the general public, many of the mysteries of our parliamentary system and of the House of Commons itself.
It highlighted for everyone the dilapidated state of the beautiful historic building and all the work which needs to be done, albeit costly, to preserve it for generations to come. No major work has been done on the buildings since 1950 following repairs made necessary by the bombing damage done in the war so renovation is long overdue.
One area not covered was what happens when a General Election is called. In the past this could have happened at any time during a 5 year period at the whim of the sitting Prime Minister. This Government introduced a fixed 5 year Parliamentary term and so we have known the date since 2011.
In addition the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority was created which has brought in strict rules about what Members of Parliament can and cannot do during an election period.
As I am sure you are all aware, the General Election is on May 7th this year and Parliament rises for dissolution or purdah at the end of March in a wonderfully tradition ceremony that is broadcast on BBC Parliament. This means that for the few weeks between the end of March and the election on the 7th of May we have no Parliament, and therefore no MPs.
All sitting MPs, who, like me are standing again, cease to be Members of Parliament and become the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for whichever party they stand for. So once again I will have the privilege of being the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for South Derbyshire, the constituency I have been proud to represent for the last 5 years.
As the last elected MP, I, and my office are still there to represent constituents and help if needed, the only very slight change is the paper that I am allowed to do this on and the email address that I will be responding through. I am no longer able to use parliamentary paper and envelopes or my Parliamentary email address, however anything sent to this address will still reach me; I am simply not allowed to reply using that account.
Similarly I am not able to use my MP website and in the next couple of weeks there will be a link to my new website www.heatherwheeler.org.uk, including more detailed contact information for the dissolution period.
In the meantime I will continue to represent you in Westminster pushing, at every opportunity, to improve the lives and fortunes of all the individuals and businesses in South Derbyshire.