I started the week with a visit to Caroline Chisholm school in Wootton where I was greeted by a group of sixth formers in their superb auditorium. By way of introduction, I gave the students an overview of a typical working week for a MP, what we do in Parliament from Monday to Thursday and how different this is to the constituency work that takes place on a Friday, focussed on helping residents to solve many different and quite often complex issues. 

The students at Caroline Chisholm are, I’m told, excelling on their politics course – very much in evidence from the questions I was asked on compulsory voting, the whipping system and whether I would vote for a motion I fundamentally disagreed with, as well as if I regret Brexit in view of trade difficulties, should Matt Hancock have gone into the jungle (that question seems to be popular in every school!), whether the peerage system is fair, my views on the Gary Lineker tweet, and whether as a woman I had suffered discrimination and if conservatism is compatible with feminism.   It was certainly a diverse range of questions! 

Thank you to the students for an interesting start to my Monday.