Dear All,

I hope by now most of you will have heard about the great election results in Exeter. I wanted to send you details and thank everyone who gave their time over the past months and/or on election day to enable us to retain control of Exeter City Council and help regain a Labour MEP – the excellent Clare Moody – for the South West

Many congratulations to the South West’s new Labour MEP, Clare Moody, who worked tirelessly during the campaign (including several visits to Exeter) and who will make a great representative for our region in Europe.

Once again Exeter Labour has shown how to win elections.

We currently have 3 Tory, 2 UKIP and 1 Liberal Democrat MEP in our region. Labour narrowly lost our only MEP in the elections 5 years ago in 2009, when we did disastrously across the country as a whole. So we have high hopes of winning a seat back this time and our top candidate, Clare Moody, would make an excellent MEP.

The National Housing Federation has released its annual report, Home Truths, on the state of housing in the South West. The shocking report shows soaring rents, average house prices 11.5 times the average local wage, and a dearth of affordable homes. It is available to read online here.

Yesterday, I asked the Minister about the the regulation of care assistants, as recommended by the Francis Report.

At yesterday’s Culture, Media and Sport questions I asked the Secretary of State whether he will meet alleged victims of unethical press conduct.

At an Urgent Question yesterday on Parliamentary Standards, I asked the Leader of the House about the reform process.

My question to the Secretary of State during an Urgent Question on the privatisation of Royal Mail in the Commons yesterday.

In yesterday’s Health Questions, I asked the Secretary of State what he will do about the funding crisis in mental health services.