I want to start by saying a huge thank to you to everyone right across the towns and villages in our new Hitchin constituency.

There is no greater privilege than the chance to represent our constituencies in Parliament, and I am incredibly grateful for the support and well wishes shared with me during the campaign and since being elected.

There is no more humbling experience than putting yourself forward for election.

From people stopping you in the street to share why they are supporting you for the first time, to families opening their door visibly disappointed to discover I’m not the Dominos or Amazon deliver they were waiting for, you truly do get to experience the full range of emotional responses!

Whether you supported me or not this time though, I am incredibly grateful to everyone who spent the time speaking to me and my campaign.

Whether you challenged our point of view, highlighted a particular local issue, or simply shared your despair at the state of the world, there is no doubt I will be a better MP for having got to hear them.

Your insights, your frustrations, and the urgency you feel about the need to improve things for our communities will be at the heart of my work every day I am lucky enough to be our MP.

Across every conversation that I had - supportive, or otherwise - was one underlining theme. Far too much simply isn’t working at the moment.

Whether it’s people’s inability to see a GP or a dentist when they need it, the devastating decline of our local environments and sewage in our rivers, new parents unable to find affordable childcare and our young people without opportunity, or simply the state of local roads.

While there will be no quick fixes to get things moving again, I promise I will work hard day in, day out to deliver the change we so desperately need.

It’s crucial that now, as a party, Labour make the most of the opportunity that’s been given to us to serve the country.

Within our first few weeks, we have lifted the onshore wind ban and legislated against more oil field drilling; we’ve taken bold action against water companies ringfencing funding for vital infrastructure – money that can’t leak into bonuses; we’ve launched Skills England creating new opportunities for our young people, our Health Secretary has entered negotiations with Junior Doctors and our Foreign Secretary has resumed aid commitments to Gaza.

But there is so much more to do. While I can’t promise I’ll get everything right, I will work for you and with people from all parties and backgrounds to get things done.

My priority will always be your voice, to speak up for our towns and villages. I look forward to working with you all to make our constituency the best place to live, work and raise a family.

If there is anything I can do for you, please get in touch by emailing alistair.strathern.mp@parliament.uk and my team and I will do everything we can to help.