During the week I’m usually tied up in Parliament all day with a diary full of meetings and debates, but this Wednesday I at least managed to venture off the grounds for an hour, albeit that the appointment was only about 200 yards away at the BBC’s Westminster studio!

Actually it was quite unusual as Gordon Brown hadn’t been there for Prime Minister’s Questions – as he was abroad, Harriet Harman took the questions in his place. This was quite odd in itself as it’s usually the Deputy Prime Minister who would answer, hence John Prescott standing in on the occasions when Tony Blair was away.

Harriet Harman isn’t the Deputy Prime Minister – Brown doesn’t seem to have one – but I won’t bore you with my speculations about the ins and outs of political appointments within the Labour Party. This was, however, one of the things we discussed on the panel, but more substantively we also talked about Zimbabwe, immigration, counter-terrorism and the possible teachers’ strike.

At the end of the show Simon Mayo announced that after the news he’d be speaking to David Tennant aka Doctor Who. This caused a little ripple of excitement amongst my fellow MPs, until we discovered that thanks to the wonders of modern technology he wasn’t actually in the building – although what else would you expect from a Time Lord…?

My two sons recently entered the world of personal financial management when I decided to open accounts for them at the Southend Credit Union in York Road.  Given that they’re both under 2 years old, they were perhaps unsurprisingly more excited by the piggy banks I took home for them than by the news of their new savings plans! 

There was very much a serious element to my actions, though.  I was visiting the Credit Union to meet the staff and volunteers and learn more about their services, and one of the main messages they’re keen to get across is that young people should get used to saving up so that they’re already in the habit later in life. 

The Credit Union opened in June 2006 and already has 400 members, 100 of whom are under 16.  The first of its kind in Southend, the union is community owned and fully recognised by the Financial Services Authority, offering loans at low rates and savings plans for expensive events that local people may have coming up.  They’re also able to offer advice to people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to financial advice, providing an alternative to door-to-door money lenders which don’t represent good value for money.

Just down the road from the Credit Union is another institution that’s providing a great opportunity for the town – the Southend Campus of Essex University.  As well as the general benefits that come from making Southend a university town, the university is actively taking an innovative approach to their relationship with the community.  

For example, when I visited the campus this week I learned that the campus’ business centre has ‘incubation’ units, which start-up businesses can use as an office base as they work to get their company off the ground.  I was also especially impressed with the ‘i-Lab’, a sort of business centre which organisations or businesses can go along to and use as a creative and problem-solving space.  The hardware and software available is hi-tech, and the facility as a whole seems to be something that will be of great benefit to groups who use it.  I’d recommend that anyone who wants to find out more contact businesshub@essex.ac.uk or read the details on Essex University’s website.

I ventured a bit further afield for another community-focused visit this week, when I went to County Hall in Chelmsford for a presentation to local soldiers who have returned from serving in Afghanistan.  The ceremony was to recognise the operational achievements of our county’s regiment and garrisoned troops, and I was delighted to accept the invitation to attend so I could pay tribute to them for their work.

Wednesdays are always quite busy days in the House of Commons, as that's when the Prime Minister comes in front of MPs for his weekly Prime Minister's Questions session.  The Commons timetable is also most like a normal business day on a Wednesday – it sits during all day until 7.30pm, rather than from the early afternoon until 10.30pm – so it's when there are the most visitors around for meetings and lobbying. 

This Wednesday was a particularly eventful example of this, for two reasons.

Firstly, a group of protestors got onto the roof of the House of Commons, unfurling large banners and staging a 'sit-in' up there for a few hours.  Along with everyone else who was inside the building at the time, I actually heard about this on the news! 

It turned out that you could hear the protesters from my office, and even see some of them from the window, but it's not at all uncommon to hear protesters' shouts so I hadn't appreciated how close they were.  I was surprised they were able to get to the roof as security is very tight around the building and visitors usually can't get beyond certain public areas. 

(Having said that, visitors are always welcome to come and look around or watch a debate – give me a ring on 01702 616 135 or drop me an email on james@jamesduddridge.com if you want to go on a tour). 

The second reason why Parliament was so busy this Wednesday was that hundreds of people from around the country came to lobby MPs and request a referendum on the EU reform treaty.  I certainly agree with this point of view, as I believe that the treaty involves handing over powers from the UK Parliament to the EU and the British people should have a say over such a constitutional change. 

I met up with two small groups of people from Southend who had come to lobby me as part of the wider campaign.  We had a good chat about why a referendum is needed and I was impressed by how strongly they feel about it. 

The organisation that organised this mass lobby is known by its website, www.iwantareferendum.com. 

As it’s been a constituency recess week for the House of Commons, to coincide with school half-terms, I’ve been in Southend and focusing on correspondence with local people who’ve written to me.

I receive a high volume of letters, e-mails and phone calls each week, so there’s always a lot of work to do. Luckily I have support from my office, who as I’ve said before also helped keep things working while I was on paternity leave.

I hold regular surgeries for people who come to me for help, usually in my office in Southchurch Road. This week, as usual, I saw a number of constituents and although I obviously can’t give any details, suffice to say their concerns were varied and very wide-ranging.

In fact, every so often I hold drop-in sessions where people can sit down for an informal chat with me at convenient places around town like Sainsbury’s, B&Q or even a fish-and-chip shop! In fact, I’m always looking for ideas of where to hold a session that would make it easy for someone to speak to me, so if you have any suggestions do let me know – see below for my contact details.

I am obviously more than happy to help local people in any way I can, including acting as your advocate in Parliament and outside. How anybody has voted at elections is completely irrelevant – whatever your political persuasions, I am your elected representative in the House of Commons and I will do what I can to assist you or simply to listen to any views you want to bring to my attention.

However, I would note that there’s a limit to what an MP can achieve. For example, if you are having a problem with something that’s the responsibility of the local Council to provide, such as housing or rubbish collections, then I have no power over solving that problem. I’m also unable to provide any legal advice.

Having said that, as I said I am always interested to hear people’s views and to help wherever I can, so if you want to get in touch with me then please do. As ever you can drop me an email at james@jamesduddridge.com, give me a ring on 01702 616 135, or write to me at Strand House, 742 Southchurch Road, SS1 2PS.

Following my news last week that I’ve been promoted to the position of Opposition Whip, I can report that the new job is certainly keeping me on my toes. I returned from paternity leave to start the week in the new role and my feet haven’t touched the ground since!

There is of course the usual time spent in any new job learning the ropes and getting to know what you need to do, who you need to speak to, and when you need to do all of this. Of course, I’ve worked with my fellow Conservative MPs for the past two and a half years since I was elected, but my new position means that my working relationship with some of them is going to be different. I can confirm that my main area of special responsibility will be matters relating to Work and Pensions, so I am working particularly closely with the Shadow Ministers for that department as well as the front-bench team that shadows the Cabinet Office.

Then there’s the task of getting into the rhythm of the usual week’s timetable, and making sure you’re in the right place at the right time. Given that the job seems to involve juggling lots of different meetings, debates and committees each week, there seems to be quite an art to it! However, I’m quite used to this as my diary is usually packed with different events and activities in the House of Commons and in Southend, so I think I’m getting to grips with this aspect ok – touch wood. This week I’ve been responsible for the Opposition’s presence at three committee meetings, all relating to new regulations coming from the Department for Work and Pensions that focus on companies and auditing processes.

And last – but definitely not least – there’s the need to fit all of this in around my usual work helping local residents and my family life. As you may recall my second son Henry was born just a couple of weeks ago, so I’m trying to spend as much time as possible with him, my wife and Henry’s older brother.

I’m delighted to follow up last week’s column about the birth of my son Henry with even more good news.  I have been promoted from being a humble ‘backbencher’ to a position in David Cameron’s front-bench team.

I got the call at 11am on Tuesday morning while I was at home looking after Henry and his older brother Tom.  It was a bit of a surprise to hear from the House of Commons given that I was on paternity leave, although at the time I was actually working through some local constituents’ casework at my kitchen table. 

The call came from the Conservative Party’s Chief Whip, Patrick McLoughlin, who offered me the position of Opposition Whip and told me that David Cameron had approved my appointment earlier that morning.  I was delighted to receive the offer and had no intention of turning it down! 

The job of the political parties’ Whips is to oversee their respective backbench MPs and to ensure that they vote in accordance with the party leadership on important issues.  I’ll really be in the thick of the activity in the House of Commons, so it will be a big learning experience for me.  Don’t worry, I’ll pass on some of the insights that I’ll hopefully learn about the ins and outs of Parliament to you through this column!

Not only is this my first front-bench job, but also it’s the post that I’ve always hoped to start out with.  I hope it will be the first step on the way to becoming a Minister in a Conservative Government one day – as well as this being an exciting personal challenge for me, it’s also important to me that the country gets the change of government that it needs and deserves. 

I expect that my role will focus particularly on matters relating to children, schools and families, as well as on activity in the Department for Work and Pensions.  My first big task will be to ‘whip’ the Pensions Bill as it passes through its successive stages in the House of Commons. 

I will also, of course, be continuing to work hard on behalf of local residents as I always have done, both for individuals who come to me with problems and for broader matters in Southend as a whole.