2022

The Boundary Commission for England is responsible for reviewing Parliamentary constituency boundaries in England. The Commission is due to make recommendations for new constituency boundaries by 1 July 2023. On Monday 7 March 2022, the Commission held a Public Hearing for the West Midlands at the Guildhall, Worcester, and I spoke at the hearing. The Commission’s proposals would remove the wards of Bentley and Darlaston North and Darlaston South from the Walsall South constituency, and add the wards of Streetly and Aldridge Central and South. The constituency would then be renamed ‘Walsall’. The great swath of Green Belt land and Barr Beacon Ridge which separates Walsall’s urban core from Streetly and Aldridge Central and South is a significant barrier physically and to community ties. Local ties and community cohesion enable proper political representation and therefore political engagement.

The Walsall Black Sisters Collective was founded in July 1986 by a group of young Black women who met to discuss issues that affected them. WBSC has grown to offer community-based provision to meet the health and social needs of BME communities and the wider community in the borough of Walsall. On Saturday 5 March 2022, I spoke at WBSC’s 35th Anniversary Ball.

World Book Day have kindly donated a selection of the books written for this year’s World Book Day 2022. On Friday 4 March 2022, I visited Woods Bank Academy and Moorcroft Wood Primary with the books so that they could be added to the schools’ libraries. World Book Day tokens enable children across the country to access specially written new titles by leading children’s authors. According to the National Literacy Trust, 400,000 children in the UK do not have a book of their own. World Book Day’s mission to expand children’s imagination and life opportunities through reading is essential. 

Happy World Book Day 2022 to everyone celebrating today, a wonderful opportunity to recognise the value of reading.

On Tuesday 1 March 2022 I attended an event in Parliament to support World Book Day on its 25th Anniversary. I am delighted that the Early Day Motion I tabled marking this achievement and welcoming this year’s campaign has been signed by 36 Members. The EDM states:

I spoke in a debate in Westminster Hall on Wednesday 3 March 2022 on funding for the Westminster Foundation for Democracy. The WFD is funded by the Foreign Office to work with parliaments, parties, electoral bodies and civil society in countries around the world, with the aim of supporting the development of inclusive and accountable democratic institutions. My full speech is below. “It is a pleasure to serve with you as Chair, Dr Huq. I start by paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) for securing this debate, and thanking him for all the work that he has done for the wonderful Westminster Foundation for Democracy as chair.

If there was ever a time when an organisation was needed that crosses Parliaments, parties, electoral bodies and civil societies around the world—a non-departmental body working and empowering everyone—it is now. This debate is crucial because it reaffirms our commitment to democracy around the world. We have heard that every major index of democracy has pointed to a reversal in the spread of democracy—that is worrying—although there is an increase in political participation, which may be something to do with the work of WFD, hopefully, for more accountability.