Sherwood Forest MP Michelle Welsh reflects on first year as a Member of Parliament following Labour General Election victory in 2024
One year on from Labour’s landslide General Election victory, a first time MP has reflected on an eventful twelve months in the House of Commons.
Michelle Welsh was elected as the MP for Sherwood Forest on July 4, 2024, with a majority of 5,443 votes, defeating incumbent Conservative Sir Mark Spencer, who had held the seat for 14 years.
On the night of her election victory, Ms Welsh told the Advertiser that she wanted to bring back “politics for service” and “break down the barriers to opportunity”.
Now, a year into the job we caught up with her about the ups, downs, achievements, and surprises of the job.
“It feels like it has gone really quickly,” she said. “But in other ways it feels like I have always been an MP.
“I don’t think there is anything that could prepare you for being in this role.
“On your first day you’re given a laptop and a bag and it’s off you go.
“For the first couple of months you spend a lot of time trying to understand all the processes of Parliament, settling in the constituency, and getting the right staff in to help do the job.
“Things can change every single day and plans never stay the same.
“Ultimately your responsibility is not only to represent the people in Parliament, but to get out there and meet them too.
“It’s definitely been a year of a lot of hard work and hard graft, but everything is in place now.”
Ms Welsh was previously a county and borough councillor in Nottinghamshire, and said it was a frustration with the previous government that pushed her to stand for election.
“I saw a need for change, and as a councillor I was becoming more and more frustrated that our hands were tied,” said the MP.
“The government wasn’t concentrating on the areas which should be concentrated on, and I wanted to do something about it.
“For me, it was an opportunity to actually make life better and give working people a voice when the big decisions are being made.”
In just a year, the Sherwood Forest MP has voted in Parliament over 200 times, on topics ranging from defence spending and winter fuel payments, to more recent health and social care issues such as the terminally ill adults end of life bill, and voting to decriminalise abortion.
“There have been some great changes made by this government,” she said.
“Things like the employment rights bill, which will provide the biggest set of employment rights that this country has seen for generations.
“It includes things like increasing the minimum wage, and no zero hour contracts — it is going to have a huge impact.
“Then there is the children and well-being bill, which looks at greater protections for children and young people, and I was really happy and pleased to vote for.”
At the same time, not every decision made by the Labour government has been a popular one, which was something Ms Welsh reflected on.
“It’s always going to be difficult,” she said. “And anyone that says it’s not difficult is not using their conscience.
“Whichever way I vote, there will always be someone that won’t agree.
“Some votes have been incredibly difficult for me personally, some in particular will stay with me for the rest of my life.
“When I got into politics, the one thing I wanted to make sure is that the people that are vulnerable are looked after.
“Sometimes you have to vote for something that you know is for the greater good, but may impact on certain people, and that can be really, really challenging.
“So you have to vote with your head, but you also have to vote with your heart and not forget where you’ve come from.”
Michelle has also achieved much, most notably becoming chairman of the All Parliamentary Party Group for Maternity, which is taking a leading role in shaping the future of maternity care and women’s health.
Through this role she has been instrumental in putting pressure on ministers to launch a national enquiry into NHS maternity care in England — which has now been announced — and secured a debate in the House of Commons on baby loss.
It comes at a time when several large scale maternity reviews are taking place, including here is Nottinghamshire where a major investigation is being conducted into care by Nottingham University Hospitals Trust.
Alongside her work in Parliament, is the very important business of dealing with issues in the constituency.
In her first year, Ms Welsh has met with hundreds of community groups, businesses and organisations, and her team estimates they have dealt with over 6,000 pieces of casework.
“What I’m really pleased about is that I’ve been able to speak up about every single area in my constituency,” the MP said.
“I’ve stood up and spoken with other ministers and secured funding for some really important issues, ranging from flooding to special educational needs.
“We’ve done thousands and thousands of pieces of casework, and constantly helping local people.
“But I’m really proud of the work we have done on maternity — I feel so passionately about making improvements, and knowing that things are going to change feels like a huge achievement.
“I’m excited for what the Labour government is going to be doing in the next four years.”
