I am delighted to have been asked by the Prime Minister to become the new Minister for Small Business at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Today (Thursday 5 July) I and the rest of the country are celebrating the 70th birthday of the NHS and all that it has done for our friends and families over the last seven decades.

I recently visited The Lettuce Company based in Upper Stoke to see their work and contribution to the UK’s agricultural economy and hear their need to maintain seasonal workers in the long-term.

Following this month's Cervical Screening Awareness Week, I am pleased to be supporting the campaign and highlight to women of Rochester and Strood the potential life-saving benefits of cervical screening (smear tests). 

Earlier this month I had the pleasure to visit Chatham Jobcentre and see their work and creative initiatives to help get more Medway people back into work.

Unpaid carers are some of the unsung heroes of our communities, and in Rochester and Strood one in eight do some kind of voluntary care for a friend or family member. And every day, 6,000 people in the UK will take on these new caring responsibilities.

A successful bid supported by Kelly Tolhurst MP has been has been awarded to help tackle the homelessness problems in the Medway towns.

I have been greatly disappointed by the consequences of the South East’s GTR timetable change which has brought chaos to many local commuters’ journeys.

Rochester and Strood MP Kelly Tolhurst has hailed the new measures in the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill to equip councils with powers to bring thousands of long-term empty homes back into use.

Last month I visited IPS International to discuss the local skills needs and apprenticeship opportunities in Medway.