Christmas is almost upon us. On Tuesday, Parliament broke up and I am now back to the constituency for a couple of weeks. Like many of you who make the same journey, I am looking forward to a break from the daily commute from East Sussex to London.

I spent my day on Monday in various meetings which had been set up with members of the Government to lobby for more intervention in the constituency. First on my list was the Chancellor, with whom I discussed how we can reform the social care system and deliver better care for our elderly. I also wanted to discuss how we could win investment so our local economy allows us to provide for the care we deliver. Next was the Schools Minister and his team at the Department of Education. The new school funding formula will deliver extra money to our schools in the Bexhill and Battle towns. However, some of our rural schools will get less. I wanted to press their case. My final meeting was with the Prime Minister. The strikes on Southern rail have rightly brought her into crisis talks. We must get this resolved. It is a terrible situation when we cannot even get our commuters to work or study.

My day in Westminster was spent with the Royal Botanical team from Kew Gardens. I am working with their botanists to try and tempt the Commons' authorities to allow us to replace some of the concrete and grass with pollinating-loving plant life and wildflower meadows.  With this rich abundance of food, we could keep a hive or two of bees on the Parliamentary estate and teach other MPs and staff how to become beekeepers. Politicians rightly use the House of Commons chamber to talk about what the public can do to help our wildlife. If our own back yard in Westminster is akin to a pollinators' desert, then it is a poor show.

On Wednesday, I spent the day driving across our 200 square miles of constituency on casework visits. I also took the opportunity to hand deliver some Christmas cards to those who work so hard for local people in the constituency. It is my opportunity to say a personal thanks to some of the people who do so much for us over the year. Be it charity volunteers, those who run our hospitals, lead our secondary schools or those who act as your local parish representatives, we are fortunate to have amongst us those who choose to spend their career and personal time helping their community.

I would like to wish every reader, and your families, a Merry Christmas. I would also like to say a big thank you, and a Merry Christmas, to all of the team at the Observer for delivering us this great newspaper every week.