'It's been a steep learning curve and there have been flashpoints!' Shrewsbury MP reflects on a year in office
On July 4 last year, Julia Buckley won the Shrewsbury seat for Labour, taking it from the Conservatives who had held it for the previous 19 years.
The former county councillor and town councillor for Bridgnorth has spent the last 12 months on a “steep learning curve” and admits there have been “flashpoints” along the way, but says her experience in local politics has stood her in good stead.
“It has been a steep learning curve working out how it all works and how to make an impact has been the thing I've tried to focus on,” she told the Shropshire Star. “But being a councillor is that sort of training ground, and I always say that to people who are interested in getting involved in politics that the rules of committee and policy change are identical – it is the same process.
“Also being in the public eye, my family and I now are used to not really having privacy and time off, but that's part of the job so it is good that it is not a surprise.”
Just over a week after securing her Shrewsbury seat last summer – her third attempt to win a parliamentary seat – the miner's daughter, from Selby in North Yorkshire, found herself in Parliament.
“I was so excited to be there. Can you imagine? You've been campaigning for a year, it's the third time I'd stood for Parliament and I'd finally won and wanted to get cracking but when I arrived at the door, I was really taken aback [by] how beautiful, old and historic the building was.
"I'd almost forgotten about that but every day it still takes my breath away and every visitor to Parliament says the same thing.
“But with that does come a lot of traditions and protocols and old-fashioned ways of doing things. Previously I worked in the European Parliament in Brussels, a modern air-conditioned building where we would vote in daylight hours, so some of these things don't make sense to me as I'm quite down to earth.”
Since coming to office, the last 12 months have kept Dr Buckley, who has a post-graduate degree in philosophy from the University of Wolverhampton, busy.
The fledgling MP and her small team have received more than 9,000 emails from some of Shrewsbury's 76,000 constituents over the last 12 months, which are highlighting some of the main issues people in the county town are facing.
“We see the same sort of problems re-occurring in Shrewsbury,” she said. “The price of housing is really high compared to the rest of the region and that puts a lot of pressure on families on low incomes or those who have fallen out of work, so we do a lot of work to support those that need social housing or temporary accommodation.
“Something else that's always on the radar is issues around children with with special educational needs and we do a lot of work with the council around that. They are starting to change the way they provide that support but we have huge waiting lists.”
