In my maiden speech in parliament, I spoke about my decision in 2003 to move from London to the South Hams, and then three years later, to Totnes, when I made this special place my home.

We are the masters of original ideas in Totnes. From becoming the first Transition Town to declaring ourselves a city state after Brexit, we’ve never shied away from following the path less travelled, and I hope in my first year as your MP, I’ve brought some of Totnes’s mindset to Westminster.

Caring for the environment is a huge part of the Totnes ethos, and this is something I’ve focused on. Back in March, I presented my Green Spaces Bill to parliament, which would have created an Office for Green Spaces to advise the Government on the preservation and accessibility of urban parks and neighbourhood areas.

And this month, I tabled an amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill calling for any new housing development to have a provision for green space.

While we Totnesians know that being in nature is good for body and mind, we are also aware that to appreciate nature you must experience it from a young age, and to that end, I was pleased to contribute to a parliamentary debate this month on outdoor education.

But what makes Totnes special for me isn’t just our nature-loving credentials, lovely though they are! As I said in my maiden speech, it is our sense of community, which stretches far beyond our fellow Totnesians. The work of Totnes Friends of Palestine is clear evidence of this.

I was proud to commend their fundraising efforts in parliament, and to use my voice as an MP to support their work, by calling out the atrocities happening in Gaza and urging the Government to recognise a Palestinian state.

But my focus in my first year as an MP has not only been on the global issues or environmental causes Totnesians care about, but on the challenges faced by rural areas like ours.

As a market town, Totnes, like much of South Devon, struggles thanks to the Government’s urban-centric approach to legislation. Pharmacy funding is a great example of this – and I’m proud to support the campaign to reopen Leatside Pharmacy.

Another is hospitality, and recently I spoke about the negative impact the Government’s lax approach to mobile and broadband connectivity is having on all rural businesses. I’ve also led a parliamentary debate on the rural/urban divide and have repeatedly urged the Government to remember that the South West doesn’t begin and end in Bristol.

There’s lots more I could say, but unfortunately, I don’t have the space! I would urge anyone wanting to follow my work more closely to explore my Facebook page or sign up to my newsletter: https://www.carolinevoaden.com/subscribe

For now, though, I just wanted to say thank you again for everyone who put their faith in me last July. It’s a genuine pleasure being a voice for this very special place that I’ve proudly called home for the last 15 years.