Former MP shares her hopes for 2025

The second half of 2024 was certainly my own half an annus horribilis! 

But life throws adventures at us all, and I believe it is vital to look for new opportunities and embrace the change, as you cannot change the past, only learn from it.

I loved being your Member of Parliament, it was the greatest honour of my life, and I was hugely disappointed to lose my seat in July. 

But that is the nature of our democracy, and the country asked for change, which they now have! I also have change, and having been involved with many projects at Westminster linked back to our local environment, I was delighted to have the opportunity to successfully apply for a job at the North Devon Biosphere.

I am working within the commercial, North Devon Biosphere Enterprises Ltd, on projects as

diverse as biodiversity net gain within the planning system through sawmills, making recycling greener as well as data platforms to analyse the vast amount of data collected through monitoring our local environment.

It is great to be in a scientifically led organisation and to be learning so much about the extensive work of our local Biosphere. 

The interaction between commerce and our environment is also hugely complex and I hope I can continue to influence its optimisation locally. 

It is also good to build on the environmental interests I had during my time at Westminster

and better understand how decisions politicians take really do impact every element of our daily lives.

Having set up the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Celtic Sea, I am also pleased to have been a part of re-establishing this group at Westminster under new MPs, and again share the knowledge and contacts I gained whilst MP back here in North Devon. 

Developing new green energy is vital to all our futures, but the skills opportunities to the next generations from particularly floating offshore wind is huge and I am committed to do whatever I can to ensure the Celtic Sea project comes to fruition.

In addition to my work at the Biosphere I am delighted to have become a Director on the

Chulmleigh Academy Trust Board. 

Helping young people fulfil their potential has been a personal mission, my entire family teaches, and whilst disappointed I did not continue teaching maths, which I had just retrained to teach when I became MP, I am again delighted to be able to play a

tiny part in the future of students here in North Devon.

My main goal for 2025 is to be able to enjoy having a far better work-life balance and to spend more time with my lovely Labrador Henry who loves playing on the beaches. 

But I know my personality well, and I do enjoy many different interests and will continue to learn and develop new skills as I adapt to this new chapter of my life. 

You never know how long the current chapter will last, and I constantly seek to be better prepared for the next.

In addition I have injured one of my knees since the election, and a very high priority for me is to get that fixed so I can get back to all the sporty things I really enjoy doing!

My middle initial is R, my friends have joked for years it stands for “resilience” and my biggest hope for 2025 is I don’t have to use quite so much of it!