Isle of Wight West Labour MP, Richard Quigley, gave his maiden speech in the House of Commons today (Wednesday).
He was not given a specific time that he would be called to give his speech, but was told it would be sometime after today’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). As it turned out, it was quite a long time after, about four and a half hours later.
Championing the Island
Richard used his maiden speech to shine a light on the Island’s athletes (with special mention to Paralympic silver medal rower Annie Caddick), its innovators and innovations, food producers, its rich heritage and culture, state-of-the-art boat-builders and manufacturers, even young Islander Daisy Morris who discovered the fossil of a new pterosaur more than ten years ago.
But Richard explained that it was the people, and more importantly its community that made the Island what it is. He mentioned many of the services such as community pantries and warm spaces.
Former MP
The MP for Isle of Wight West explained that his predecessor had mentioned Isle of Wight ferries 23 times in Parliament in seven years.
Richard pledged to mention ferries and cross-Solent travel as many times as he could during his term, highlighting the difficulties Islanders faced with rising fares, service issues and the obvious barriers to opportunities.
He also mentioned that his predecessor’s “interest in all things Chinese and Russian is legendary on the Island”.
Watch again
If you missed Richard Quigley speaking live, you can watch the maiden speech through the Parliament Live website.
Isle of Wight East MP, Joe Robertson, will be giving his speech in the second week of October – date and time to be confirmed.
Article edit
6pm 11th Sep 2024 – Link to watch again added, tense changed from future to past, some additional info added
