First of all, please accept my best wishes for a happy New Year.

I am sure I am not alone amongst readers in feeling, within a couple of days back at work, that I’d never been away but with so much to do and a couple of days to get a head-start before the House returned, I was glad of the opportunity to catch up with my constituency work following the Christmas break.

When people ask me – as they occasionally do – whether I spend much time in the Buckingham constituency, I am always reminded of a story recounted by Jeremy Paxman in his book, The Political Animal.  In the earlier part of the last century, a man is being quizzed over his commitment to his local patch. Will he, the selection committee want to know, live in the constituency? “No,” came the answer. “But I intend to hunt across it.”

My amusement stems entirely from the alien nature of that sentiment. Modern day MPs, from the Prime Minister down to the most junior backbencher, ignore their constituents at their peril. Gone are the days recounted by Paxman and, frankly, it’s a good job too.

Although I hold the dual roles of Speaker of the House of Commons and constituency Member of Parliament for Buckingham, being a local MP gives me a great deal of pleasure and fulfilment. Whether it’s visiting schools, my surgeries where I deal with local people’s problems face to face, public meetings on HS2, private meetings with residents concerned over the wind turbine proposals at Dorcas Lane, Cowpasture Farm or Dinton, safer road crossings in Haddenham  ... The list of issues is so diverse and challenging that there is absolutely no time to get bored. On top of this, my office and I deal with hundreds of letters, emails and phonecalls every week on matters ranging from the situation in Gaza to requests for help in upsetting personal circumstances.

My role as Speaker occasionally confuses some people who think that I’m no longer an MP or that I can’t represent them. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. I make representations on my constituents’ behalf to Government Ministers and enjoy expedited responses, speak out locally both at meetings and through the press about local concerns, and assist my constituents who are having trouble with organisations such as HMRC or the CSA. My position in the House means that I cannot vote or sign Early Day Motions, it is true, but in this regard I am not dissimilar to a government Minister who can speak out only on his or her portfolio, is not allowed to rebel and cannot sign Motions.

So the first days of the New Year were, indeed, busy ones and with everything going on in the constituency, I anticipate a very busy – and hopefully successful – 2013.