I can’t exaggerate the sense of privilege I feel having been elected to represent the community I grew up and live in. Nor will I ever underestimate the responsibility that comes with the post.

The General Election has yielded a coalition Government, and as in any such partnership, there have to be compromises which has meant deferring some of our Conservative proposals and agreeing to Lib Dem commitments on civil liberties, removing the tax burden on the first £10,000 earned and something I have long believed in, fixed term Parliaments.

During the campaign, I made some key promises on a range of issues, from the third runway, to parking charges in the Park and the future of Kingston Hospital. As your MP, I will of course honour them.

We have already seen some major successes – the new Government has finally seen off the threat of the third runway. We now need to prepare the ground so that if Labour should ever get back in, reviving these unpopular plans will be hard, if not impossible. I will be meeting Heathrow campaigners and legal experts on the next few weeks to take advice.

With Andrew Lansley as the new Health Minister, we will be able to fulfill our promise to protect key services at Kingston Hospital, and with Jeremy Hunt as the new Culture Minister, we will scrap plans to charge for parking in the Park.

Many hundreds of local people worked hard for my campaign and, with them, I was able to run a truly positive campaign. I want to thank them, and all others who trusted me with their vote.