Green Party’s Adrian Ramsay wants to be ‘an active and visible MP’ for new Waveney Valley constituency

The new MP for the Waveney Valley has said he wants to be a visible part of his constituency and representative of local issues by taking them to the highest political stage.

Adrian Ramsay won the newly-created seat on general election night with 20,467 votes and became one of four Green Party representatives in Parliament.

But the co-leader of the party, talking to the Diss Express, said that was only the beginning in helping Waveney Valley have a voice in Westminster.

He said: “I am very clear that my first job is to represent the residents of Waveney Valley, I am deeply honoured and I will be pushing the Government to be bolder in addressing the issues that affect people in the constituency.”

Having been sworn in this week, Mr Ramsay has already made an impression in the House of Commons, making his maiden speech to Parliament calling for less tribal form of politics for MPs to move forward in the national interest.

“As a native East Anglian I feel very proud to represent the area and people could see when they were voting in Waveney Valley that we will be on the national map having a Green MP,” Mr Ramsay added.

“I feel having the chance to speak in the chamber this week is an example of that. Putting Waveney Valley on the national stage is the best way I can push the Government on the issues that effect local people.”

The MP said he will hit those issues he heard during on his campaign trail on both a national and local levels to try and find solutions.

“On the issue of dentistry and there not being a single NHS dentist in the Waveney Valley taking on new patients, I want to challenge the Government on the root causes.

“This includes looking at how dentistry contracts are set up and changing them, but I will also talk to authorities locally about restoring these services.

“Ultimately it comes from the Government first to take action and it will be one of the first questions I want to ask.

“On sewage in our rivers that is impacting the Waveney Valley, I feel the Government needs to be much tougher with the water companies, so I will be pressing them on that as well as engaging with Anglian Water directly.”

Thanking everyone for their support, Mr Ramsay said he wants to be seen in the constituency.

He has started this today, by holding a pair of surgeries in Diss and Bungay as well as visiting the Waveney Foodbank.

He added: “When the count was read it was emotional for me. There is a huge amount of support of Greens in rural East Anglia and it is one of the areas that is leading the way on this change in politics.

“I want to be an active and visible MP, to give thanks back to the Waveney Valley for putting their trust in me to lead the constituency.”