COLUMN: MP Nadhim Zahawi looks at the work of local businesses and community groups, and congratulates Rishi Sunak
THIS month saw my friend and colleague, Rishi Sunak, made Leader of the Conservative Party and, in turn, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
He is proof that, whatever your race or background, the UK is a place where you can achieve amazing things.
I believe it is important to unite behind our new Prime Minister for the sake of the country and I am confident in his ability to deliver nationally and for constituencies like SoA.
I am a firm believer that our community has an exciting, dynamic and prosperous future, and this has only been reinforced by some of the local businesses and organisations I have visited recently.
In particular, as readers of the Herald will know, I was invited to the ground breaking ceremony for the Calgavin Centre for Flow Processing building on the Arden Forest Way development. Their plans are deeply impressive. I am so proud to see this local business, which has grown from operating out of a shed to having clients all over the world, take this next step and invest further in our constituency with this new facility.
It is more important than ever that we move quickly to respond to emerging challenges and global opportunities and cement the UK’s position as a world-leader in science, research and innovation. Sites such as this can turbo-charge that effort.
For us to succeed in this endeavour, we need the government, and business and education sectors to work together. Therefore, I was extremely pleased to learn that the University of Birmingham School of Chemical Engineering, which is less than 20 miles away, is teaming up with Calgavin. I have every confidence that this new site can serve as, not just a driver of British industry, but also a hub for innovation and education creating jobs and developing skills for the next generation of engineers.
I am also proud of constituency groups such as the Plymouth Brethren, whom I recently met. They have done an absolutely tremendous job supporting the people of Ukraine following Putin’s invasion, sending roughly 26,400 food boxes to those in need. They have also done great work looking after our local key workers, most notably supporting the fire service during the blaze at Pure Recycling in Ettington as well as providing snacks to our amazing police officers during the Commonwealth Games.
It is always an honour to meet people who are committed to public service and we are extremely privileged to have many such people in our constituency; not least the fearless crew at Stratford Fire Station, who were kind enough to give me a tour of the station, as well as our myriad of campaigners like the members of the Ups of Downs and Twenty’s Plenty, both of whom recently attended my surgery.
As you all know, I host regular constituency surgeries and, of course, I welcome appointments from people to discuss matters big or small.
I also love learning about the work being undertaken to support local causes, so if you are a member of a campaign group or charity and would like to discuss what you are advocating, please do not hesitate to email me, requesting a surgery appointment, at constituents@zahawi.com.
