HAVING swept to victory in December’s Feltham and Heston by-election, Seema Malhotra is now learning the ropes within parliament.

Britain’s newest MP may have only been in the role for little more than a month, but she claims to be working hard already to improve the lives of her constituents.

She cited her backing of the Fare Deal campaign as one example - this is aimed at keeping down the cost of fares on London’s transport network.

The Labour MP said: “We want fares cut by seven per cent and a freeze until 2014. A bus fare has gone up 50 per cent under Boris Johnson and everyone is really feeling it.”

And while fare rises may be a London-wide issue, Ms Malhotra believes it is important for her to be as active as possible in parliament to bring improvements to residents of Feltham and Heston.

She said: “For me what’s now really important is to understand how I can best raise issues that are local where there’s a national theme and I was really pleased that the first question I submitted into a question time in the house could be a treasury question.

“I was able to ask about what the government was doing for Feltham and Heston, that has seen unemployment rise – not just youth unemployment, but also for the over-50s – more than twice the national average last year and I was able to raise these issues and ask what the government is doing in response to this.

“There are a whole host of issues where what happens at parliament has implications at a local level.

“What I’ve realised as well is how important it is that I have strong relationships with people in the constituency and with our businesses and our schools because when a debate comes up, I need to be able to contact people about things that they think need to be raised or about things that aren’t working well.

“So building a bridge between parliament and the constituency is my big priority so that I can be standing up in all the debates that are going on.”

But while Ms Malhotra regards her participation in Commons debates as important, she stressed her main priority is her work within the constituency.

As well as setting up weekly surgeries, she is also keen to meet as many individuals and groups as possible and one way she aims to engage with residents is by developing a series of networks.

She said: “The idea of having these networks is really about how I respond to issues that were raised with me during the [by-election] campaign and there definitely for me is a strong need to
engage with younger people on the future they want to create for themselves.

“I got a real sense of people’s ambition but there is a gap between that ambition and the opportunities that people think are there for them.

“So one of the networks I really want to set up is a network of young people who will be able to work with me, perhaps informally, just through sharing what they think could be done differently and us looking for ways in which we might work to make changes happen.

“I’d also like to try and set up a network of women in the constituency and there were a lot of residents who commented during the campaign that I was the only woman on a ballot paper of nine. For a long time I’ve believed it’s important for us to get a greater balance in our politics, both locally and nationally.”

Ms Malhotra is also keen to work with existing business networks and plans to establish a back to work network, aimed at helping people find employment.

She explained: “I want to see that we are finding ways in which all people in the constituency feel like they’ve got a way they can play a part.

“For me everything is driven by the constituency. It’s a very community-orientated place and what I’ve always believed is when you get great people together, great things can happen.”

Ms Malhotra runs surgeries for constituents on Fridays in Feltham, but plans to hold events in Heston and central Hounslow.

Attendance at the surgeries is by appointment only. For more information call 020 7219 8957 or email seema.malhotra.mp@parliament.uk