As your Member of Parliament, I am fortunate to have one of the most satisfying jobs in the world. Add to that the fact that I represent our beautiful area, and I recognise my good fortune. Yet being an MP is a role that ought to be earned through hard work and dedication.

Voters put their trust in each MP to be their voice in Westminster, in the hope that they might have a champion for their area, fighting their corner. It seems obvious that the focus of MPs must be on serving those who elected us.

In recent years we’ve seen a series of scandals that have weakened people’s trust. Occasionally I hear the view expressed that MPs are all in it for themselves and have forgotten about the very people who elected them.

A report from Sky News found that between 2019 and 2023, over £17million was earned by MPs for work done outside of Parliament. This is an eye-watering sum – with one high-profile Conservative MP alleged to have earned almost £1million a year advising tax havens in the Caribbean.

Some weeks I struggle to find even a single evening to have at home with my family – never mind having the time to do another job on the side. MPs who act in this way are taking their constituents for granted by acting as a part-time absentee MP.

In the past, taking constituents for granted has been facilitated by the notion of “safe seats” that wouldn’t ever change hands. I am pleased to say that following the General Election of 4 July, there are fewer such safe seats now – although there will always be some, until we replace the “first past the post” voting system.

I don’t take issue with MPs who undertake additional roles that are about service - perhaps working part-time work in the NHS, or as a reservist in the Armed Forces. Besides maintaining professional qualifications, this also enables them to lift the quality of debate in the House of Commons, bringing in recent experience from the “shop floor”.

But what I find egregious is MPs who earn enormous sums for hundreds of hours of extremely well-paid private work, while they neglect their principal employer – the voter.

Being elected as an MP is a massive privilege. It is a role we should strive to do our utmost to fulfil - and we should work night and day to repay the trust placed in us by voters. That’s why last week, I spoke in Parliament about my desire to see action to clamp down on those egregious second jobs. Serving the nation, our constituency, and as your MP will be my first job – and my only job.