'My experience of the first 12 months in Parliament' by Harrogate's enthusiastic and non-stop new MP
If politics in Britain has felt like a bit of a whirlwind since last year’s General Election it’s one that Harrogate's new MP appears to have taken to it like a duck to water.
Harrogate and Knaresborough’s non-stop Lib Dem MP Tom Gordon has scarcely looked back since he was elected in July 2024, even if he admits the whole experience has been, in his own words, a bit “surreal”.
"I don’t even know where the year has gone,” said Mr Gordon.
"It still feels slightly surreal to be in the House of Commons.
"Every day I walk in and think “what am I doing there”.
"But if it ever starts to feel normal, I’m probably not the right person for the job.”
Looking back on his first 12 months in Westminster, the town’s MP is talking to the Harrogate Advertiser fresh from playing an important part in Parliament in the progress of the controversial Assisted Dying Bill.
But Tom Gordon’s role on the Commons General Committee on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is only the tip of an iceberg of activity by the new MP whose interests are far from narrow.
In his opening year as an MP, he has also become a member of the Commons Select Committee on Science, Innovation and Technology Committee and the Commons Select Committee on Human Rights (Joint Committee).
Despite a reputation for being open and personable at all times, Harrogate and Knaresborough’s dynamic MP appears unafraid to put the hard yards in.
Since he took the seat from the Tories a year ago with a massive swing, Mr Gordon has made a total of 185 spoken contributions in Parliament, according to Hansard.
Every week he makes the same journey down to London by rail; “thank goodness for LNER’s direct train from Harrogate,” he says, then back to his constituency by Thursday or Friday fulfilling commitments throughout the weekend.
As well as Parliamentary business, meeting local groups never stops, nor does dealing with an inbox packed with requests from constituents.
Which is exactly the way it should be, says Mr Gordon, a keen runner who is in his very early 30s.
"My predecessors Phil Willis and Andrew Jones were regarded as good constituency MPs,” he said.
"It’s not about taking a party political approach, it’s about representing everyone in the constituency and trying to help as much as you can every day.
"It’s about people feeling they are being listened to and supported.
"I don’t think you can have any hope of being a good MP at Westminster if you don’t have your finger on the pulse back home.”
Over the last 12 months, Tom Gordon has spoken up on a bewildering range of local concerns and brought the best of Harrogate and Knaresborough to the attention of the wider world.
From Knaresborough Town GC to Harrogate Foodbank, Harrogate International Festivals to Yorkshire Cancer Research, Harrogate Parkinson’s to Harrogate College.
The three issues that he has felt particularly strongly about, he says, ones where he has taken the views of his constituents directly to a Government minister, are Yorkshire Water’s pollution record in the River Nidd, national insurance rises for employers and the problem of ‘crumbling concrete’ in Harrogate Hospital.
Somehow amid all this, the committee meetings and debates, Gaza and Trump, Winter Fuel Payments and Assisted Dying, Harrogate and Knaresborough’s energetic MP has also found time to run for local charities in the London and Paris marathon and take part in the Knaresborough Bed Race.
Without the enthusiasm, without the work rate, you are nothing.
"The House of Commons is not all about spats, despite how it is portrayed,” said Tom.
"It’s a lot more collegiate than that.
"Being an MP means you have to be in two places at the same time, in a way.
"You always feel when you’re in one place that you could and should be in another place – and vice a versa.
"I never forget that my number one goal is to deliver on the promises I made when I won the seat 12 months ago.
"You only get one chance to make a good first impression."