Sir Roger Gale
Member of Parliament for Herne Bay and Sandwich (including West Thanet)
 

If a week is a long time in politics, then a month is an eternity! 

The local government elections were held on Thursday 2nd May. These were regarded as a significant test of public opinion in a General Election year and although locally our own council  elections were held last year and although we managed to return a Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner, albeit with a reduced majority, the national results were grim for the man in Number Ten. 

We operate a peculiar system under which the dates of local elections vary and while some councils have adopted an `all out` policy others are elected in thirds, so the picture is not a wholly accurate national indicator of public opinion. Nevertheless, the loss of hundreds of Council seats, overall control of a number of authorities and the Mayoralty of the West Midlands, were sufficient to send a clear message that the Government is, shall we say, not enjoying the greatest of popularity at present. 

That said, and in spite of dire warnings, the anticipated Leadership challenge from the right wing of the Conservative Party did not materialise. Presumably the disaffected within the parliamentary party reached the conclusion that the run-up to a General Election was not the ideal time to select a fifth Prime Minister in as many years and in any event there was and remains no obvious candidate for the job.  More of that later. 

In the constituency this month I have, in addition to regular surgeries, supported the Kent, Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance in their now successful bid to raise the funds to purchase their life-saving aircraft, I have attended a fundraiser organised at Quex Barn by the amazing and dedicated Tammi Stewart Jones in support of her church and `Stand By Me`, celebrated the 50th anniversary of McDonalds in the UK with the young team at Minster, was present for the Mayor making of the Right Worshipful Town Mayor of Sandwich, Councillor Paul Carter and subsequently at his Civic Service, met with Kent Trading Standards officers and the Citizens Advice Bureau (as it is still known by most people) and, in Dover, the Area Commander of the Police to discuss problems of and solutions to anti-social behaviour in Sandwich and Ash. 

I enjoyed a splendid historical display mounted by the Ash Heritage Group, and presented the prizes at the excellent Thanet Young Artists exhibition. Over a weekend Suzy and I also made the time to visit our eldest son and his wife and two of our grandchildren in Lincolnshire. On the way we made a detour to see the wonderful statue of Queen Elizabeth the Second, complete with corgis(!) in Oakham near Rutland Water. (Recommended if you are travelling North by car). 

At Westminster I have, continuing to serve as a Deputy Speaker, taken the chair for, as well as many other sessions, the Electric Vehicles Bill, the Criminal Justice Bill and the Export of Live Animals Bill.  In the company of many colleagues from both sides of the House I made the acquaintance of the 1st Westminster  Brownies and Guides, attended Dementia Action Week events, discussed personally with the Minister, Kevin Hollinrake, how best we may use existing legislation to control the activities of a rogue property developer that has plagued North Thanet and heard at first-hand from the Health Secretary, Victoria Atkins, how plans to locate the Childrens Cancer Centre at the  Evelina Hospital in London, which will be used to treat many of my young  my constituents, will be implemented.

With summer approaching skin cancer awareness has been on the agenda while in Portcullis House Caroline Nokes, the Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee introduced me to Georgia Harrison , the reality TV star (who has herself been the victim of `revenge pornography`) and is helping Caroline to campaign on this issue. 

With the war in Ukraine sadly showing no sign of coming to an end any time soon I took the opportunity to touch base with my friend Maria Mezentseva who is the Member of Parliament for Kharkiv in the eastern war zone while she was visiting London to reinvigorate support for the Ukrainian cause. Maria, represents one of our Ukrainian families currently living in exile in Canterbury. 

Ukraine is not the only `frozen conflict` in Europe of course. Kyriacos Kouros, the new High Commissioner for Cyprus, reminded us when he visited the House to introduce himself that the illegal occupation of the northern part of the Island of Cyrus will reach its 50th anniversary in August of this year and notwithstanding the best efforts of the UN Special Envoy again is proving intractable. 

I was present for what can best be described as a barking mad gathering of what were in fact very well-behaved Assistance Dogs in the Jubilee Room off Westminster Hall and made the acquaintance of Teddy and ex-serviceman John who suffers from PTSD. Teddy, provided by the Service Dogs organisation, is his man`s best friend and a source of huge help to John. 

Animal Welfare and related matters have always played a significant part of my own parliamentary life from my past chairmanship of the All Party Group for Animal Welfare and the Founding chairmanship of the Group for the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments to the campaign against trophy hunting.  I am also committed to the responsible re-introduction of native species that have become totally or virtually extinct in the wild. As parliament`s `Beaver Champion` I am pleased that there is a growing if sometimes grudging acceptance that these animals do much more harm than good to the environment and are at least in some areas beginning to thrive again.  Not so the Lynx. 

Paul O’Donoghue of Lynx UK, who I met privately in the Pugin Room, is facing an uphill struggle to persuade Natural England and the agriculture department, DEFRA, that there are wooded areas in the North of Britain where it would be safe and practicable to tag, release and monitor these beautiful cats. Upland sheep farmers, particularly, have grave but ill-founded concerns that their flocks will be savaged by animals that are mostly forest-living, shy and very unlikely to impact adversely upon livestock and there is clearly a long way to go before even the hoped-for trial re-introduction is licenced to take place.  Time, perhaps to recognise that the most dangerous `wild animal` of all is man! 

We have, in the course of this parliament, made significant progress on the animal legislation front. The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act, The Animal(Sentencing) Act, the Glue Traps (Offences) Act, The Animals (Penalty Notices) Act, The Ivory Act, The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Act 2019, the ban on wild animals in travelling circuses, the ban on third-party puppy and kitten sales, the introduction of mandatory TV in slaughterhouses  The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act, The Shark Fins Act and the ban on the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening have all been put in place by this government.  Certainly there is more to do: the promised ban on the importing of hunting `trophies was shamefully defeated in the House of Lords and will have to be re-introduced in the next parliament and the issue of puppy smuggling will also have to be addressed further but overall it is a good record and one of which Lorraine Platt`s Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation can be rightly proud. 

Those of us who attended a gathering in Number One Parliament Street were gratified to learn that the Energy, Local Government and Agriculture Departments had combined to agree restrictions on the use farmland for solar `farms`. As the Energy Minister Andrew Bowie explained to us the use of agricultural land for energy production is not compatible with the sustainable production of food for domestic consumption. 

As this is a drum that I have been banging locally and nationally for several years this was music to my ears.  On mainland Europe, and particularly in France, barns, the rooves of public building such as schools, hospitals and Town Halls, and supermarket car parks are all being utilized as spaces from which solar energy can be harvested. If Europe can do it, so can we – but we need to go further. We are sacrificing far too much farmland for housing.  Yes, we need affordable homes for people to live in but first and foremost we should be using all of the available brownfield sites. We cannot grow crops in window-boxes. 

During the month the Conservative Member of Parliament for Dover, Ms Elphicke, crossed the floor of the House of Commons to shake hands with Mr. Starmer, the Leader of the Labour Party and to take a seat directly behind him.  I think it is fair to say that this grotesquely orchestrated pantomime staged at the commencement of Prime Minister`s Question Time, did not go down well on either the Opposition or the Government benches.  Ms. Elphicke is widely regarded as having been to the far right of the Conservative Party and so far as anyone can tell has nothing, other than self-interest, in common with the Labour Party.  Those of us who supported her during her husband’s trial, (Charlie Elphicke, the former MP for Dover,  was gaoled as a sex offender) and who helped her in her campaign to seek election herself have, I think, a right to feel mildly disappointed. Standing down from Parliament at this election she will have no need to decide where to sit in the Members` tearoom. Which is probably just as well! 

From the House at its worst to the House at its best. It was, if memory serves me correctly, in October of last year when I received a phone call to tell me that my colleague, friend and parliamentary neighbour Craig Mackinlay had been admitted to The Medway hospital with sepsis and was unlikely to live. Had Adam Holloway, the Member of Parliament for Gillingham and a former soldier with some experience of field hospitals not spotted that he was on a `pathway` of terminal illness management Craig would indeed almost certainly have died. 

Craig was moved to St. Thomas`s hospital in London. His hands and his feet were amputated, and he spent many months in hospital.  His wife, Kati, travelled daily from their home in the Medway towns to spend seven hours a day, seven days a week, nursing him while her parents who had flown over from Hungary looked after their four-year-old daughter, Olivia.  On the occasions when I visited him Kati was at his side, and he retained a sense of good if sometimes black humour throughout.  He was transferred from St Thomas`s to a rehabilitation unit where his prosthetic legs were fitted and, subsequently he received some rudimentary hands as well. 

Just before noon and Prime Minister` question time on Wednesday 22nd May, Craig Mackinlay, The Member of Parliament for South Thanet, walked completely unaided into the House of Commons and took his seat on the front bench below the gangway. It was truly one of those very rare `I was there` moments. The entire Chamber, to a man and a woman, stood and applauded. All three of the public galleries rose and clapped as well. Given that clapping is not permitted in the chamber of the House of Commons it was a quite extraordinary and spontaneous outpouring of recognition of Craig’s outstanding political and personal courage.  It was also, without doubt, the most moving moment that I have experienced in forty-one years in the House of Commons. 

At the end of the April `diary` I noted that “My writ as a Deputy Speaker will come to an end with the rising of the House for the Summer Recess in July if not pre-empted by a General Election”.  That was written given the possibility of an election being triggered, post council elections, by a Conservative Leadership challenge and the Prime Minister having survived that threat the smart money was on a November or even December outing to the polling stations.  We were all wrong! 

On the afternoon of Craig Mackinlay`s re-entry into parliament Rishi Sunak stood in the pouring rain at the lectern outside Number Ten Downing Street and, soaked to the skin, announced that he had been to see the King and that His Majesty had agreed to dissolve parliament. The starting gun had been fired. 

Faced with this announcement and in some cases a complete lack of preparedness a number of my colleagues, including Michael Gove from Surrey and Tracey Crouch and Greg Clark as well as Gordon Henderson from Kent, announced that they would not be standing for re-election. At the time of writing nearly eighty Conservative and a significant number of Labour MPs have indicated that they will be retiring from Parliament but the saddest of these is Craig Mackinlay. 

Craig had made it clear that he intended to fight and win the new East Thanet seat but the realisation that this would not be possible in the immediate short term during further months of necessary operations and hospital treatment caused him to announce that he would be joining those leaving, Nothing, though, can take from him the fact that even if only for a few days he was `Britain’s first bionic MP’. 

The General election will be held on 4th July. I have now completed my service as a Deputy Speaker and with effect from midnight on Wednesday 29th May I shall cease to be the only Member of Parliament for North Thanet and become the Conservative candidate for the new seat of Herne Bay and Sandwich (with West Thanet).  Other candidates are available!