Following his appointment to a ministerial role last week, Dan Tomlinson, MP for Chipping Barnet, writes about what this means for constituents

A smiling man in a suit holding a large red book — Dan Tomlinson at the Treasury following his appointment – (Credit – Office of Dan Tomlinson MP)

At the general election on 4th July 2024, the people of Chipping Barnet put their faith in me to serve the place we call home. A place we all want to be a great place to live, to work, to raise our families. A place I will always work hard for.

As you may have heard, last week I had the honour of being appointed as a junior minister within the government. That means I’m not in the cabinet, but I will work within the Treasury as exchequer secretary. This is a role that allows me to bring my enthusiasm for improving our economy to the heart of government, I will do all I can to ensure that people living here in Chipping Barnet and across the country are better off.

I was elected in Chipping Barnet because many of you put your trust in me and my colleagues across the UK to change our country’s direction and fix the social contract broken by years of failed governments.

Both national work and local representation are essential to an effective government, and with this new role I have the opportunity to shape policy and enact change that will benefit our community, and communities across the UK.

In light of this new appointment, I want to affirm to each of you that my commitment to Chipping Barnet remains absolute.

You elected me to serve our constituency first and foremost, and that will always be my priority.

The nature of my midweek work in Westminster will be different, but I will always guard time in my diary to support residents with local issues and concerns, visit groups across our community, and work on local priorities such as SEND and early years provision, car theft, and our high streets.

Many of you have been in contact with me and my office – please know that we take time to read every single piece of correspondence. It is imperative to me that your views, issues, and feelings are seen and heard by me as your representative, and this will not change.

I will always work hard for Chipping Barnet – here is a reminder of just some of what I have achieved for our constituency so far.

Working closely with parents, I led the local smartphone-free schools campaign, making Barnet the first borough where schools are going smartphone-free in unison.

I successfully campaigned to keep High Barnet Post Office open on the High Street and negotiated an exclusive 25% discount for an effective car tracker as part of my focus on tackling vehicle theft, which has fallen since the election.

I worked with councillors to get the Prince of Wales pub listed as an asset of community value and saw it reopen earlier this year, whilst securing a free breakfast club pilot for Ashmole Primary with more coming.

We now have 16 more local police officers in the borough under Labour, and NHS waiting lists are falling in the Royal Free Trust area after a decade of increases.

I held FirstPort to account in parliament for Millbrook Park residents, where things are improving, and successfully lobbied for Totteridge & Whetstone station to be added to the Mayor’s longlist for step-free access for the first time.

I stopped plans for a Whetstone bus lane that wouldn’t have worked and campaigned against potential parking charge increases. Following my intervention, TfL is taking service failures at Mill Hill East more seriously.

I helped a local nursery open on time by getting Ofsted to prioritise it, and police have taken action on shops selling illegal products in High Barnet.

My office worked closely with police and two local schools following vandalism, I pushed government and council on road resurfacing funding which has transformed many main roads, and I’ve been listening to residents at almost weekly street stalls picking up vital casework.

Beyond these public wins, there are many individual cases where my team and I have made a real difference in someone’s life – and those private victories often mean the most.

As we enter into a new parliamentary year, I want to thank you for your support, trust, and time. It is an honour to represent such an engaged and warm-hearted constituency, and I look forward to seeing you around, at one of my regular street stalls, events, or out and about in our wonderful part of London.

Dan Tomlinson is Labour MP for Chipping Barnet

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