North Wiltshire MP James Gray’s view of the week in Westminster

Dear Constituent,

The ship of State finally feels as if she is sailing calmly along, breasting the waves, a full breeze in her sails. (Enough shipping analogies, Ed.) All of the nastiness, the in-fighting, the plotting; the vainglorious pomposity of the Speaker; all of that is gone. We are setting about a huge raft of new legislation; select committees are getting elected and setting about their work, the 150 or so new members finding out where the coffee machine is (I do them a disservice - they are a highly talented and ambitious bunch of people). All is well.

Of course, there are some rumbles from previous times. My erstwhile neighbour Claire Perry has made a proper song and dance about her well-deserved sacking as President of COP 26. Her successor in Devizes, Danny Kruger, is absolutely first class. If we are to achieve anything at the vital COP 26 meeting in Glasgow in November, it must be headed by a Statesman of international renown. I am sorry that William Hague and David Cameron both turned the job down. Perhaps Theresa May would do it? Or Michael Gove?

Mr Bercow has equally made a fool of himself berating Lord Lisvane and General Sir David Leakey, Black Rod. Both are extremely fine men and they, having gone public about Mr Bercow’s outrageous temper tantrums and bullying, said ex-Speaker might have been well advised to sidle quietly away rather than confirming their allegations by intemperate outbursts against them on TV and radio. But then I guess he’s got a book to promote. Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the new Speaker, is a wonderful contrast in almost every way. Quiet and modest, he has even put in place a mechanism by which if the Clerk of the Commons thinks he has unreasonably been over-ruled by the Speaker he may place a note to that effect in the Library for all to see. I hope Mr Bercow remains Mr Bercow.

There will be a reshuffle - some say a major one - in the next week or so. Those who get promoted tell themselves (and everyone else) it’s as a result of their great merit and capabilities; those who get sacked are bitter and twisted some for years to come. Some of the 108 Tory ‘new intake’ believe that they should be in the Cabinet in a matter of weeks. They will be disappointed. Those ‘young thrusters’ get grumpy when one of their undeserving friends becomes the deputy Parliamentary Secretary to the junior minister for paper clips, believing that they have been overlooked - a sure early sign of a catastrophic failure of their careers. They should realise that politics is a marathon not a sprint. They should also realise that just being an MP, representing your constituency, is of itself a very honourable role in life, even if preferment never comes your way. They need to calm down a bit.

Of course there are passionate arguments about the great affairs of State. I personally am worried about Huawei, very concerned about possible prosecutions of veterans, and wholly opposed to HS 2. But we don’t have to agree about everything. Indeed, we are sent here to Parliament to disagree about things. Thesis and antithesis produce synthesis.

So the seething turmoil of egos and emotions which is the very lifeblood of Westminster bubbles away as much as ever. But a strong PM with a good mandate, and a very healthy majority in the House of Commons, means that all of those emotions and ambitions no longer matter. Boris and his Government may now do what they believe to be best for the Nation without let or hindrance. The ship of State is indeed ploughing through the waves.

Best wishes,

James Gray, MP for North Wiltshire