A WEEK is a long time in politics and last week I decided to change direction a little by resigning from my ministerial post and asking to not be considered for a new frontbench role.

There were two driving reasons for my decision. The first is that, I feel ultimately responsible for the chaos that has been unleashed on Southern rail customers over the last two years. As I said in a Westminster Hall debate last week, the situation at Southern is due to a collective failure of management, government and unions and it is rail customers and their families who are paying the price. Of course the seeds of this situation were sown long before my tenure in the role and God knows I worked harder at the task than in any previous professional role, but to little avail and hence decided to step down.

I leave the portfolio knowing that important progress has been made on our railways – on my watch we launched three franchises (East Coast, Northern and TPE) that will deliver a step change in quality for customers, started the rollout of free wi-fi across the entire rail network, improved customer compensation, blocked a permanent exemption for rail companies from consumer rights legislation and got the industry to start thinking about how to be more honest and responsive to passengers. But, ultimately, I believe that despite some superb people being involved, the tangled web of public/private contracting and funding and the failure to link rail improvements to delivering both greater value for customers and improvements in economic productivity will hold back further improvements in an industry that I have grown to love.

There is another reason too. In my six years of being your MP I have spent more than 80 per cent of the time on the Government 'payroll' – first as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Philip Hammond in Defence, then as a Government Whip and latterly as Rail Minister. The term is misleading – there is no increase in salary for being a PPS – but in all of those roles I have been expected to support every aspect of government policy and vote with the Government at all times.

As we enter a period of prolonged uncertainty for the country with many important decisions to be made, I want to have the freedom to debate crucial issues and speak up for my constituents without concerns over patronage and promotion.

I am very much looking forward to this freedom, and to having more time to help those I serve in the Devizes constituency.