GORDON HENDERSON MP

05:30 I was determined to miss the early morning traffic chaos I experienced last week, so I was up early and was on my way by 5:30. It paid off because I reached the Commons before 7am, which meant that I made a double saving by escaping both the Dartford Crossing toll and the London Congestion Charge!

06:55 I was determined to catch up on some of the outstanding paperwork that sat in an accusing pile on my desk, but when I turned on my computer I found yet another load of emails had appeared over the weekend, including a couple of important ones that needed urgent attention.

08:30 Met my daughter Jo-Anne in the Terrace Cafeteria for breakfast for a quick chat. Jo-Jo has worked in the House for almost 20 years and has been a great help getting me to grips with the numerous parliamentary traditions and procedures.

09:00 I started to draft an Early Day Motion condemning the All Party Parliamentary Group that has been set up to promote an airport in the Thames Estuary. Some of my fellow MPs are really quite tiresome; this airport is never going to see the light of day but as long as groups like this continue to bang on about it the whole misguided idea is given a certain amount of credibility.

11:00 Today, pupils and teachers from one of my local schools, Minterne Primary School, are visiting Parliament. I went down to Westminster Hall to welcome them and promised to catch up with them again later.

12:30 After spending an hour or so going over some case work with my part time secretary, Jessica, I tracked my visitors from Minterne School down to the Lords where they were being enthralled by the stories being told by their official guide. I decided to tag along for a few minutes and joined them as they moved from the Lords to the Commons Chamber where the guide explained about the way that MPs used prayer cards to reserve their seats. I showed some of the youngsters the seat that I had reserved for the day and one of them asked me to sign his visitor badge. I readily agreed and was immediately asked by several of his fellow pupils and before long I was besieged by young people who kept me busy for the next 10 minutes!

14:00 Over to Portcullis House to visit the office of Lee Scott who is the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the new Secretary of State for Transport, Phillip Hammond. The offices in PH are bigger and plusher than those, like my own, in the Palace of Westminster, but on balance I prefer to be where I am. The unpaid role of PPS is the lowest position in the Government, but it is the first step on the road to a ministerial post and I was delighted that Lee was honoured in this way because he is a genuinely nice bloke. I briefed Lee on a number of local transport related issues and he promised to draw these to the attention of the ministerial team and try to arrange a visit to the constituency by the relevant minister, Mike Penning.

14:30 Back to the Palace for prayers followed by Education Questions. After question time was over I managed to collar Secretary of State, Michael Gove, as he left the Chamber and chatted to him about the review of academy finance that affects the Isle of Sheppey Academy. Michael had left a message on my phone over the weekend to say that he was keen to find a resolution to the problems as soon as possible and I wanted to thank him for taking the trouble to contact me. There are not many ministers who would have done that. I am confident that Michael understands the unique situation of the IOS Academy but I will need to keep up pressure to maximise the financial package that is eventually agree.

15:30 A quick dash back to PH for a meeting with two members of the Peel Ports management team, Group Marine Director, Captain Stephen Gobbi, and Medway Ports (Sheerness Docks) Head of Development, Ross Thompson. The meeting was to discuss their plans to encourage wind turbine manufacturers to locate in Sheerness and on the Isle of Grain as part of a wider Medway Energy Hub. These are very exciting plans and I wanted longer with Stephen and Ross so I settled them down with a coffee whilst I dashed off for my next meeting.

16:00 I have been invited to be part of a small support team for the Home Secretary and today we had a briefing session explaining what was expected of us. It looks as if one of the main roles will be to sit on the standing committees that debate Home Office bills, which is why I was put on the Identity Bill committee last week.
16:30 Back to my meeting with Stephen and Ross, but this time I had roped in my colleague Mark Reckless who represents Rochester and Strood the constituency in which the Isle of Grain is located.

17:30 After grabbing a quick dinner it was back to my office to confront my paperwork.

22:20 Despite predictions that we could be late again tonight the House adjourned at twenty past ten after a couple of divisions. Rumour has it that tomorrow is definitely going to be a late one. We shall see!