If a week is a long time in politics, a fortnight feels like eternity. When I submitted my last column at 11am on the day before publication, I expressed my hope that Liz Truss would be given time and loyalty to get through. Two hours later, she announced she was stepping down as Prime Minister. I don't regret making those remarks. I didn’t put a letter in asking for change. I feel sympathy for her as to how it worked out. Yes, I didn't vote for her in the leadership contest because I felt we had a better alternative. However, I wanted it to work because if a Prime Minister is succeeding then the country benefits.

Fast-forward two weeks and we now have a new Prime Minister in Rishi Sunak. I won't go over the detail of how this came about because it's been played out across the media. I can report that we now have a Government which is joined-up, focused and united in its pursuit of policy and delivery. I'm able to give this insight because, for the first time in my 7 years as your MP, I am a member of it. A week ago, Rishi Sunak gave me a call and asked me to serve as his Minister of State in the Department for Transport. My portfolio is Rail, which now includes HS2.

Many years back, when I was asked what I would like to do if I became a Minister, I said the job which I would love the most would be as Rail Minister. The interviewer looked bemused, perhaps expecting something else to come up. The simple fact is that I have a passion for rail. It regenerates areas, connects us with our nation and always pushes new frontiers. I've spent 7 years on the Transport Select Committee, the last two as Chairman. I've had a great insight and I appreciate the problems we face and the people who can address them. It was impossible to turn down the chance to play my part. I will miss my Select Committee role and the team I worked with. It was a wrench to leave and I would not have left it for a role which wasn't within Transport.

Now I sit on the front bench, I’m not allowed to speak about other matters from the back benches. Having spent seven years speaking as I find it, I am conscious that things may look different to constituents who have always been so supportive (regardless of how they vote). The method of communication may alter but the focus remains. I am absolutely committed to driving through the changes we need. On the day you read this paper, I will be busy in the constituency. My engagements include meeting residents in Heathfield who have been blighted by sewage discharges and flooding. Directors of Southern Water and officers of East Sussex County Council will be attending. I will also be meeting a local Housing Association to discuss local housing needs and pushing for a change to the current practice where former council houses in villages are being sold to the private market rather than being let out to those on our housing register.

Being the Member of Parliament for the constituency I’ve called home, for longer than I’ve been elected, is a special privilege. It will always be my first priority.