Ellie Chowns MP
Member of Parliament for North HerefordshireIn an article for Chamber UK, Ellie Chowns MP advocates for a modern, efficient Parliament and sustainable, energy-efficient housing to build a better, future-proof Britain. ”As a new MP, I hope to engage constructively in Parliament wherever possible – from the modernisation of our workplace to encouraging the Government to seize the once-in-a-generation opportunity to build homes fit for the future.”
Four Green MPs
It has been an absolute honour to enter Parliament as one of four new Green MPs. We are delighted to have quadrupled our numbers at the last Election and to be able to build on the fantastic legacy of our trail-blazing first Green MP, Caroline Lucas.
The hard work has started right away, as we set about getting our offices up and running, recruiting staff, and getting to grips with the – in some ways, opaque – internal mechanics of Westminster. It is a busy time and an exciting one. There is a real sense of positivity about what we can achieve as a constructive voice from the opposition benches.
Politics is About Getting Things Done
As I see it, politics is about getting things done. I am fortunate to have served as a councillor in Herefordshire for several years and as an MEP in Brussels, and those experiences have helped me enter Parliament not just in awe of the tradition and history, but also with a critical eye for possible improvements.
In my third week, I spoke in the Commons about three areas where I saw need for such improvement: sitting, speaking, and voting. To briefly summarise, I feel a modern Parliament should, at the very least, have space for all representatives to sit in its chamber and be able to participate in debates; have an improved system of allocating speaking time that does not involve bobbing up and down to catch the Speaker’s attention; and have an electronic voting system to save hours of MPs’ precious time.
For MPs to do their job most effectively – to get things done – Parliament should be an up-to-date working environment with functional processes. I hope to engage constructively wherever possible in modernising our workplace throughout my time here.
Get Britain Building… Homes Fit for the Future
In the spirit of ‘getting things done’, I welcome the Government’s initiative in setting out to tackle the housing crisis. However, Labour’s pledge to ‘get Britain building’ begs the question, “Building what?”. From a social, economic, and environmental perspective, the answer should be “Affordable homes built to the highest environmental standards”. But while we have seen laudable ambition from Labour on the transition to clean power generation, we have sadly heard very little on energy efficiency and demand reduction. If the Government is serious about building 1.5m new homes, now must be the moment to set the highest possible building standards for those homes.
That means ensuring new houses are built to Net Zero building standards, are super highly insulated, have solar panels installed on their rooves wherever appropriate, and are equipped with energy-efficient heating systems. Otherwise, we risk compounding the problem of our existing leaky, inefficient housing stock and leaving, as an inheritance to the next generation, the costly task of re-fitting and properly insulating these new homes.
This should be a no-brainer for this Government, none of it is rocket science. Yes, it will require a sizeable investment, but it is an investment that is worthwhile, whichever way you look at it. It is a vital opportunity to link economic renewal and the social justice agenda of reducing the cost of living for good, with tackling the climate and biodiversity crises. The Government must ensure the homes of the future are warm, liveable, and affordable to heat; reduce electricity demand and lower our significant household emissions; and boost the economy – to ‘get Britain working’ – by creating new jobs and supply chains in all regions of the country. This is a huge, generational opportunity, and a win-win-win that the Government must not miss.
Final Thought
As elected representatives, it is our responsibility – and my hope for this Parliament – that we think long-term, on a 10-, 20-, 30-year horizon, and work together constructively to build consensus around the best policies for our future.
For more political insight, analysis, and discussion, make sure to sign up to Chamber UK’s newsletter.