A Nottinghamshire MP has spoken about the pride in representing his home constituency a year after he was first elected.
Lee Anderson, Conservative MP for Ashfield, was elected to parliament on December 12, 2019, in what was the first time the Tories secured a general election victory in the constituency.
Mr Anderson, who prides himself in being the "first ever born-and-bred" Ashfield MP, had a somewhat controversial rise to power - having stood for and represented the Labour Party as a councillor between 2015 and 2018.
The MP left Labour in 2018 to join the Conservatives, before working for Mansfield MP Ben Bradley and being elected for the Tories on Mansfield District Council.
It led to him being selected as the party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Ashfield in the 2019 election, going on to secure a 5,733-vote majority last year.
When the MP was elected, he stood on a manifesto of 'Getting Brexit Done', but what he and other new MPs did not expect was to be living their first year in Parliament during the Covid-19 crisis.
This, Mr Anderson says, has helped him and the new intake learn the ropes "much faster" than other groups of new MPs.
"A lot of MPs tell us that the new intake, including myself, we've faced more in a year than they would have done in five years," he told Nottinghamshire Live.
"You've got to take positives out of the negative, we've worked a lot and we've been fast-tracked with how Parliament works.
"I think Covid aside, which has been awful for the country, as MPs we've probably matured and developed much faster than a normal intake.
"And that's been good for me. I feel more confident now that I should be down here, whereas when I first started it was a bit like starting your first day at big school."
The MP's first year has not come without its share of controversies, most notably getting into a Twitter spat with Gary Linekar over refugees in the summer.
He has also been outspoken on numerous national issues, brought back his infamous boulder in a row with the council, and even contracted Covid-19 - forcing the Prime Minister into self-isolation.
And although Mr Anderson has been a councillor for more than five years, he says one of the things he wasn't prepared for when becoming MP was the "spotlight" you're put under.
"I suppose the one thing you're not really prepared for is the spotlight you're put under straight away," he said.
"Reporters and media people are sticking around every corner, people watch you travel to work.
"And especially during Covid it has been intensified, there's intrusion and you lose a bit of privacy - and there's no training for that.
"It's something to get used to.
"And the level of hate and nastiness has gone up a lot. I've got thick skin, so I always think that if I'm not being name-called or abused on social media, or in the media, then I'm not doing my job.
"The more I do my job and the better I am at it, the more people will let you know about it or try to find a negative."
Mr Anderson, who is a former mineworker, grew up in Sutton-in-Ashfield and says he has a lot of pride when speaking about his area in Parliament.
He believes it helps build his passion when discussing the area in debates, having been born, educated and worked in his constituency.
"I'm very proud, when I speak every week in Parliament and I put my name down for debates, I speak with pride," he added.
"When I speak about King's Mill Hospital I speak with pride because I was born there, so were my children.
"It's something close to my heart, and again when I talk about schools I was educated in Ashfield and I went to schools in Ashfield.
"So when I talk about the area in the Chamber it's very personal to me and I feel incredibly proud to be the voice of the people I represent.
"I'm the first ever born-and-bred Ashfield MP - and I'm incredibly proud of that."
And he adds that having someone local, with the "ear of the Prime Minister", helps in gaining investment for the area.
"Despite the whole of Ashfield being told 'the Tories can't win here', I did win and I won with a good majority," he says.
"This meant Ashfield has an MP who sits with Government, and for a first time in a long time they've got a representative with the ear of the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, all the ministers of state.
"And that's resulted in getting extra investment in the area. Make no bones about it, it's much more difficult as an opposition MP to get investment in your area."
The MP adds that he is "constantly banging the drum for Ashfield and Eastwood" and has helped secure funds to improve town centres, high streets, King's Mill Hospital and West Nottinghamshire College.
And looking forward to his second year as MP, Mr Anderson hopes 2021 will be filled with investment into Ashfield and putting the "pride back into the community" - rather than a focus on Covid-19.
"Hopefully we'll start seeing some more money coming into Ashfield and Eastwood," he said.
"If I can keep the money coming in, hopefully, people will see that they've got an MP that's working with the local council to ensure it gets the money it deserves.
"In the past, Ashfield has been a left-behind area and it's my job to change.
"All these so-called 'red wall' areas have got something in common: their high streets are dead and they've got shops boarded up.
"They've got deprivation, crime, they've just been so neglected over the past 20 or 30 years.
"So it's right for someone to come along and put a bit of pride back into the community."
