'It's been a steep learning curve and there have been flashpoints!' Shrewsbury MP reflects on a year in office

“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.”

Adorning the wall of her Shrewsbury office, besides the constituency map, is a whiteboard where Dr Buckley has laid out her priorities for the county town.

She explained: “Within a couple of months, I said to myself 'what are really big issues for Shrewsbury and what are the things that are really important to residents that they keep raising?'

“The priorities we have chosen are water, transport, health and education.

“The water issue is about pollution and flooding. I manged to get elected on to the Environment Select Committee and I pitched for an inquiry on flooding to use Shrewsbury as a national case study.”

She said the committee was heading to Shrewsbury next month to hear from the flood forum, local businesses and residents about how flooding affects the town, and how they want to see flood response improved.

“I'm trying to make that connection between policymakers and local people,” she said. “Transport issues too are raised by everybody – why we don't have more trains, why we don't have more buses, and why aren't they integrated?

“I am doing a lot of work around buses but on the trains, I've been backing a bid to try to get five more trains from Shrewsbury to London, and we should be getting a decision on that very soon.

“Whatever that decision is, it won't stop the work to try to get better transportation for Shrewsbury.”

Also among the transport issues affecting the town is the controversial North West Relief Road (NWRR), which was championed by her Conservative predecessor, Daniel Kawczynski, and has now been “paused” by the Lib Dem council in Shropshire due to spiralling costs – the project's predicted cost has gone from £70 million to more than £200 million.

The issue has left the newly-elected and cash-strapped Shropshire Council administration with a major dilemma: either plough on with the work and borrow another £140million, or pay the Government back for the £30 million already spent on the groundwork for the NWRR.

“It will push them into bankruptcy,” the MP said, saying she is lobbying the Government to see if ministers will allow the council to take the money from its “capital spend” - cash put aside for infrastructure projects – a move not normally allowed for failed projects.

“It is not unprecedented so it might happen,” she said.

Another project the Shrewsbury MP is spearheading is expanding car parking at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Last year, she launched a petition to see land off Mytton Oak Road to become an overflow car park.

The petition proved a success and she is now working with the hospital's trust and estates team to bring the project into fruition.

“SaTH (the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust) has been really supportive and are prepared to pay for it, which is really positive. It will be good for the staff, good for patients and and good for visitors.”

She added that she is also hoping to convince ministers at the Department of Health to provide free bus passes to nurses, a move that has been spearheaded by SaTH.

“Car parking is a national problem for all hospitals,” she said. “If you give nurses free travel on a park-and-ride, you free up space that will help in so many ways. It will help with retention and recruitment, it will help patients and will help visitors.

“I'm hoping we can draft a bill and make it happen – wouldn't that be great, Shrewsbury hospital leading the way in a bill that could get adopted nationally?”

However, she admits there have already been “flashpoints” in her 12 months in Parliament.

The first came just three months after taking office when Parliament voted to cut winter fuel payments to pensioners.

“Shrewsbury has 18,000 pensioners, which is a higher proportion than many constituencies, so I abstained from the winter fuel vote,” she said. "I did the same for the WASPI [Women Against State Pension Inequality] as I have spent years campaigning for them.”

But another issue that has disproportionately affected her constituents in comparison to less rural Labour seats was the move to introduce inheritance tax changes for farmers.

“There are 347 farmers in my constituency and I have now met 220 of them. I met with NFU president Tom Bradshaw at the [Shropshire] County Show and I know there are some farmers that have been disproportionately affected.”

She said that along with another 50 Labour MPs she has formed a “Labour Rural” group aimed at raising issues facing the party's rural swing seats and trying to get “fairer funding” for countryside seats.

“Shrewsbury is a swing seat, like other rural seats, so Labour has to listen otherwise we will lose them. The party has made U-turns, which we don't get any thanks for, but it is a sign that hopefully we are learning that lesson.”

Another issue that faced Shrewsbury this year was the cancellation of its historic Flower Show, with organisers citing spiralling security costs as the cause.

The return of Shrewsbury Flower Show is one cause the MP says she is determined to bring about.

“The last couple of years have seen unprecedented costs.

“It is run by volunteers but is so important that we get the show back and it is something I am speaking to and supporting the Horticultural Society. I know Shrewsbury Town Council are working very hard too. It has to return as it is the oldest flower show in the country."