On most Mondays, Sue and I go to our local community centre – Shrewsbury House* - to take part in what is termed the Shrewsbury House Get-together Monday. It is usually attended by twenty to thirty people, most of whom are retired professionals like us. There is a programme of sessions, including Yoga, craft activities, quizzes, and talks. (I have done two talks to the group: One was about Woolwich and the Spanish Civil War and the other was about the history of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society.)
We have also had visits by our local councillors, the local Borough Police Commander, the local Ghurkha community, and the Commanding Officer of the King's Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery. Today, we were lucky to be visited by our local Member of Parliament, Abena Oppong-Asare.
She has been an MP since 2019, and became our local representative when the Shooters Hill ward was moved from its former constituency – Greenwich and Woolwich – into the Erith and Thamesmead constituency as a result of the Parliamentary boundary changes in 2024. Between 9th July 2024 and 6th September 2025, she was Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, but since then she has been Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister.
Abena Oppong-Asare MP addressing the Shrewsbury House Get-together meeting at Shrewsbury House.
Her new role makes her the Prime Ministers 'eyes and ears' with regard to the Labour Party's backbenchers and she acts as a communication conduit between the Prime Minister and the parliamentary Labour Party. She is also responsible for meeting with MPs when the Prime Minister is not available and to assist him in preparing for the regular PMQs (Prime Minister's Questions) sessions that take place at noon on each Wednesday that Parliament is sitting.
She joined us at 10.30am, and began by introducing herself and giving a brief but very useful verbal biography. It was great to realise that she is a local and therefore understands the specific needs of the area covered by her constituency.
She then explained the various roles she had performed as a Member of Parliament, as Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, and as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. This was very informative, especially to those of us whose knowledge and understanding of the role of a Parliamentary Secretary was, at best, vague.
I was particularly impressed by how open she was and how unlike she was to some of the political 'hacks' I've had dealings with in the past. It was refreshing to hear a politician of any party admit that they do make mistakes and accept that they are not infallible.
She then took a question and answer session that ended at midday, and made notes about those topics for which she did not have an immediate answer. She also promised to send appropriate answers after she had looked into the matters that had been raised.
Overall, I left the meeting feeling that we are lucky to have a local MP who is willing to listen and to act and/or advise their constituents.
* Shrewsbury House is where I also go to the weekly game session, Dice of the Hill.
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That sounds very interesting. Always good when you get to see what the roles of MPs etc actually involve. I'm sure we get a skewed impression from our media.
ReplyDeleteNundanket,
DeleteI knew our previous MP quite well (I had taught his son and served on the governing body of a local school with him) as well as several of our borough's mayors and our local councillors, so it was very enlightening to meet our new MP, particularly one who is close to the centre of power in the UK.
It was also interesting to hear about the number of queries she gets from constituents (about 30,000 last year!) ... often about things that don't fall under her purview. That is a huge workload on top of her parliamentary work as a Political Secretary.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like an interesting meeting and a good MP. A year before the last General Election there was a knock at my front door and one of the candidates stood there and introduced himself - the first one to do so in over a decade. I voted for him and he was elected, no doubt at least partly because of the number of doors he had knocked on! I am happy to say that he continues to be very active in the local community.
Steve
Steve,
DeleteI think that if someone wants me to vote for them, then they should make an effort to canvass or at least attend a hustings. Anyone can send out a bland pamphlet, but I like to see and hear a candidate and make my own judgement as to their suitability to be an elected representative.
All the best,
Bob