First Green MP makes first speech to House of Commons
Brighton Pavilion's own Caroline Lucas pays tribute to city and constituents in maiden speech
Caroline Lucas, the newly elected MP for Brighton Pavilion and Britain's first ever Green MP, delivered her maiden speech in the House of Commons this afternoon.
The Green Party leader drew attention to the UK's need for greater gender equality, for an elected House of Lords, for an improvement to Britain's record on civil liberties, and for the introduction of a genuinely proportional electoral system. "Politics needs to renew itself, and allow new ideas and visions to emerge," she told the House.
But a large part of the speech was devoted to paying tribute to Brighton – including her predecessor as MP for Brighton Pavilion, David Lepper.
Caroline Lucas said:
"David Lepper, who stood down at this election after thirteen years service as Member for Brighton Pavilion, was an enormously hard-working and highly-respected Member whose qualities transcend any differences of Party. I am delighted to have this chance to thank him for his work on behalf of the people of Brighton.
"It is also a great pleasure to speak about Brighton itself. It is, I am sure, well-known to many Members, if only from Party conferences.
"But I can say to honourable members who are not familiar with it, that it is one of the UK's premier conference venues; and there are proposals to invest in it further to help ensure that Brighton retains its status as the UK's leading conference and tourism resort.
"There are also the attractions of the shops and cafes of the Lanes and North Laine, the Pier and of course the Royal Pavilion itself, which gives its name to the constituency.
"And beyond the immediate boundaries of the constituency and the city, there is the quietly beautiful countryside of the South Downs and the Sussex Weald.
Brighton has always had a tradition of independence - of doing things differently. It has an entrepreneurial spirit, making the best of things whatever the circumstances, and enjoying being ahead of the curve.
"We see this in the numbers of small businesses and freelancers within the constituency, and in the way in which diversity is not just tolerated, or respected, but positively welcomed and valued."
Caroline joked:
"You have to work quite hard to be a 'local character' in Brighton.
She continued:
"We do not have a single dominant employer in Brighton. As well as tourism and hospitality, we have two universities, whose students make an important cultural, as well as financial, contribution to the city.
"There are also a large number of charities, campaigning groups and institutes based there, some local, others with a national or international reach, such as the Institute of Development Studies, all of which I will work to support in my time in this place.
"I would like also to pay tribute to those wonderful Brighton organisations that work with women. In particular I'd like to mention Rise, who do amazing work with women who have been victims of domestic abuse.
"Many of my constituents are employed in the public and voluntary sectors. They include doctors and teachers, nurses and police officers, and others from professions that do not always have the same level of attention or support from the media, or indeed from politicians.
"But whatever the role - social workers, planning officers, highway engineers or border agency staff - we depend upon them. I'm sure that members on all sides would agree that all those who work for the State should be respected and their contribution valued. In a time of cuts, with offhand comments about bureaucrats and pencil-pushers, that becomes yet more important.
"There is also a Brighton that is perhaps less familiar to honourable members. The very popularity of the City puts pressure on transport and housing and on the quality of life.
"Though there is prosperity, it is not shared equally. People are proud of Brighton, but they believe that it can be a better and fairer place to live and work.
"I pledge to everything I can in this place to help achieve that, with a particular focus on creating more affordable, more sustainable housing."
Caroline also drew attention to a Brighton historical connection:
"Brighton was once the seat of the economist Henry Fawcett who, despite his blindness, was elected there in 1865. Shortly afterwards he married Millicent Garrett, later the leader of the suffragists, a movement he himself had supported and encouraged.
"So he lent his name to the Fawcett Society, which is still campaigning for greater women's representation in politics.
"The task of ensuring that Parliament better reflects the people that it represents remains work in progress - and as the first woman elected in Brighton Pavilion, this is work that I will do all that I can do advance," she concluded.
The full speech can be seen here: www.greenparty.org.uk/mediacentre/releases/27-05-2010-Caroline-Lucas-maiden-parliamentary-speech.html
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