I WOULD like to say a very big thank you to everyone associated with the recent Parliamentary By-election in Ealing and Southall. To my fellow candidates, to the police and Town Hall election staff, to all those who made the effort to vote, especially those who voted for me as the Labour candidate and to everyone involved in my campaign. Thank you again.

It was a frenetic few weeks but the by-election re-energised democracy locally and allowed the national political spotlight to be shone on Ealing Southall in an unprecedented and beneficial way.

I am deeply honoured that local people have elected me as their Member of Parliament and I pledge to work as hard as I can to represent all the communities and to repay their trust and faith in me and my party.

Since being elected I have been busy meeting local people and taking up issues on their behalf as well as setting up an office in the constituency and Westminster. I am looking to open the constituency office at the beginning of September and will start regular surgeries at the same time. In the meantime, if anyone has a problem they would like me to help with please write to me at the House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.

One of the big issues that I have taken up since the by-election is the need to tackle congestion and improve local public transport. I have already been lobbying government ministers to make sure that the Crossrail project is funded and that local stations at Southall, Hanwell, West Ealing and Ealing Broadway get the necessary investment and improvements as part of this major public transport initiative.

Ken Livingstone's announcement that he will shelve the tram project if Crossrail gets the go ahead and then look at improving and integrating bus services in the Uxbridge Road is also something that I welcome having had discussions with him on these matters recently.

I am due to meet the chair and chief executive of Ealing Primary Care Trust to discuss key health issues and plans for improvements locally.

I am working on making more affordable housing available with the necessary community infrastructure to support it and looking at ways to further improve our local schools. It will be a busy summer but I am thoroughly enjoying every minute serving you as your new MP.