Lynda in the House

Lynda in Government

 Upon entering Parliament, Lynda was promoted and given the job of Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS). The role of a PPS involved arranging and attending meetings and briefings with the Minister, Civil Servants and Members of Parliament. The primary role of a PPS is to act as the Parliamentary contact for a senior minister, shadow minister, or sometimes a group of ministers. From 2005 to 2007 she served as a PPS to David Hanson as Minister of State at the Northern Ireland office, and continued in this role when David became Minister of State at the newly created Ministry of Justice; responsible for policy on the criminal, civil, family and administrative justice system.

Lynda's job as a PPS in the newly created Ministry of Justice saw Lynda taking the lead role in bringing a fairer, more effective, speedy and efficient justice system, and also in reducing re-offending.

Having served on the House of Commons Modernisation committee for two years, In November 2007 she was asked to join the Select Committee for Children, Schools and Families, responsible for overseeing the work of the Department for Children, Schools and Families and for scrutinising legislation published by the Department.

Lynda as a Minister

In November 2008 reshuffle; Gordon Brown promoted Lynda to Assistant Regional Minister for the West Midlands, representing the West Midlands in Whitehall.

Here, Lynda describes her role in a speech delivered at the 2008 West Midlands conference in Malvern:

Conference, it is a pleasure to be here to today in a new role in Government which means so much to me - Assistant Regional Minister for the West Midlands.

Those of you who have been active in the West Midlands party for some time will know how much a part of my blood both the movement and this region are.

Don't be fooled by the accent! There's not a job in the party - at least in this region - that I haven't done over the years from branch secretary , to LGC secretary and Chair, to working for MPs, MEPs, as a Regional Officer and now as an MP.

To be a parliamentary representative in the area in which you live and work and then be given a job in government to fight for it - is quite simply a dream.

And I know that working with Ian, Reilly, Mick Laverty , Gerard Coyne, Joe Morgan and other colleagues from across the region that we can make a difference in what will be a difficult period for families here.

Yesterday, we heard from our Regional Minister about our priorities for the region, I also have my own set of priorities as Ian has asked me to lead on working with Women Entrepreneurs and also to work on a regional project to encourage mentoring and volunteering.

This is particularly important because women, very often face different challenges in the work force than do men. As a government we have made real progress in addressing these challenges. Women make up over 53% of the working population and it has never been more important than now to harness all the energy, creativity and skills that our entire population has to offer.

My work as teacher, my role as a mother and my contact with young people now as an MP shows me that the majority of young people are good, well motivated and focussed but there is a minority that for one reason or the other fall at early hurdles.

There are some fantastic examples of mentoring and volunteer schemes that have show excellent results, steering young people back onto a productive and positive path, raising their aspirations and filling them with vital self confidence. This work is long overdue and I hope that you will be able to participate in making this important aspiration a reality.

To come through this difficult period the West Midlands region must be the best - the most skilled, the most focused, the most strategic and the most innovative. That means looking again at areas where we must do better including bringing through an underused resource and getting more women onto the top table of all the region's talents.

Our party's great strength is how we embrace diversity and how we value it. We really do believe that the whole is stronger than the sum of all its parts.

We know that UK Plc runs better when we use all the tools at our disposal and when our regional economies are flourishing.

There'll be no abolishing key economic agencies like AWM with Labour, which is what the Tories want to do.

And unlike the last economic downturn when the Tories turned their back on the regions after throwing thousands upon thousands on the scrapheap, this Labour Government will not turn away.

Gordon has already shown he understands the vital contribution we make with his announcement of the Regional Economic Councils. The Tories have shown how they little they understand over recent weeks. No wonder David Cameron is being called the invisible man.

So thank you for all you are doing and for your continued participation in this vital policy process. We all have something to contribute - an idea to share. This next period may well be more challenging than it has been for a decade but it is one that we can and come through if we work together.