LAST Tuesday I was bobbing up and down during question time and failing to get called. That’s part of an MP’s life.

You spend a lot of time making speeches and asking questions but even more hoping to be able to speak and not managing it.

There are often more people who want to ask a question or speak in a debate than there is time for.

The Speaker does his best to give everyone a fair crack of the whip but you can’t rely on being called.

How do MPs decide what they want to speak about? Sometimes people have a particular interest which stems from events in their own life.

I have always taken an interest in stroke care because my father died following a stroke when I was in my early twenties.

Sometimes, there is a topic of great interest or controversy which is in the papers or on television.

Yet I think the most interesting questions or speeches often come from a MP’s experience in their own constituency.

I think of the people who have contacted me because they cannot get a medical assessment to deal with their application for a Personal Independence Payment for example, so I asked questions about the delays.

Last week, I raised two issues which are very important to local people.

One was about Cheshire Police’s handling of complaints of rape, where HMIC found that genuine reports of rape were not being recognised as a crime.

That’s a matter of real importance to women in my constituency so I questioned a Home Office Minister.

People also frequently contact me about problems getting GP appointments and other NHS issues so I spoke about the fact that Warrington now has fewer GPs than under Labour, despite its rising population, that ambulances response times are going up and Warrington got no extra money last year to cope with winter pressures while Cheshire West & Chester got more than £10 million.

I think it is important people know that the issues they raise do matter and that they are confident that the issues they raise do go right up to parliament when necessary.