New South West Norfolk MP Terry Jermy will ‘put politics to one side and get on with the job’
For plenty of people, last week’s general election marked the end of a long campaign. For Terry Jermy, it was just the beginning.
The new South West Norfolk MP has barely had a moment to rest since claiming a momentous victory over Liz Truss, spending his few spare moments with family before heading off to parliament for the first time.
On Wednesday, he was officially sworn in as an MP - and took the opportunity to wear a badge portraying Thomas Paine, an American Founding Father who was born in Mr Jermy’s hometown of Thetford.
He is one of a record number of new MPs to be inducted, which has made the whole ordeal slightly less daunting as there are plenty of others in the same position he is.
But that lack of experience is more than made up for in enthusiasm - Mr Jermy is already forming a plan to tackle the issues he believes are most prominent in his constituency.
He will be back in West Norfolk by the time this article is published, and is looking to get straight to work. As part of that, he has already held meetings with West Norfolk Council and Breckland Council.
“I will be a regular presence in the constituency, meeting with local organisations,” he says.
“I've already got my first constituency visit arranged for this Friday. I'm meeting with the Cranswick objection group in Methwold, and I've got other visits arranged over the weekend.
“Since being successful I've been inundated with emails from residents asking for support with a variety of subjects - I think probably in the region now of 500 emails since Friday alone.
“Obviously I’ve still got to get myself set up, but I’m dealing with them as best as possible at the moment.”
Mr Jermy is opposed to Cranswick’s plans to create two mega-farms housing 870,000 chickens and 14,000 pigs in Methwold.
His predecessor, Ms Truss, was often criticised for not standing against the proposals - although she did call for “an urgent response” to residents’ concerns earlier this year.
It was a historic victory for Mr Jermy over the former Prime Minister. South West Norfolk had not had a non-Tory MP since the 1960s, and he was battling to overturn a 26,000 majority.
He also had to do this with absolutely no support from the Labour Party nationally - all funding for his campaign was sourced by crowdfunding through local activists and members of the public.
This did lead to some sense of surprise at last week’s election win - although Mr Jermy’s case was likely helped by independent candidate James Bagge and Reform UK’s Toby McKenzie taking a significant number of voters away from Ms Truss.
He ended up pipping her to the post by 630 votes.
“We had a very grassroots campaign,” Mr Jermy says.
“Yes, there were Labour Party members locally campaigning, but there were also non-party members that were very active in the campaign - and we achieved the result ourselves, so there is an enormous sense of surprise from everybody in that.”
With Conservative MP James Wild retaining his seat in North West Norfolk, the two will likely have to work together on cross-constituency issues - including a rebuild of Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
There are positive signs - the two have had a conversation already, and have scheduled a meeting for next week to discuss how they can work in partnership.
That is a key mantra for Mr Jermy - working with officials, councils and members of the public who do not necessarily see eye to eye when it comes to politics.
“My key message for people is, whether you voted for me or not, I do want to work with the whole community and really get the politics put to one side and get on with the job,” he says.
“I think the Labour Party has got a really strong offer for rural communities and I'm really looking forward to being somebody that can talk about how those Labour values translate into a rural community.
“I've made an effort this week to meet with the Labour candidate that won Bury St Edmunds, and also the Labour candidate for South Norfolk.
“I share a constituency border with both of them and I think we've got a lot of similar issues in our constituencies, so we've been having conversations.”
Moving forward, these will be an interesting few weeks, months and years for Mr Jermy.
He previously set out the three main issues he believes need to be tackled in South West Norfolk - the “creaking and broken” NHS services, a lack of jobs and low pay, and struggles faced by farmers in the face of environmental problems.
It will be no easy task, but he is “very excited” to give it his best shot.
“I think there's a huge opportunity. There are a lot of issues in South West Norfolk, but I really feel like I understand the area,” Mr Jermy says.
“I can hit the ground running and it gives me a huge opportunity as a Member of Parliament, particularly with the Labour Government now, to make a difference locally, which is what it's all about for me.”
The Lynn News asked Mr Jermy what he wants to be able to look back on when his time in parliament comes to an end - whenever that may be - and say that he has achieved.
His response seems to sum up what he is all about - and highlights a difference between himself and Ms Truss, for better or for worse.
“I think one of the disappointing elements of politics these days is people often stay in campaign mode, and as soon as one election is over, they start thinking about the next,” he says.
“I'm not thinking about the next election at all. I'm purely thinking about what I can be doing locally to support the constituency.
“The future is the future, but I'm focused on the here and now.”