Christmas for most people is a time to spend with family and other loved ones. As a public holiday, most people are off work on Christmas Day. However, every Christmas Day more than one million people around the UK spend their Christmas away from home – be it at work in their offices, serving in our Armed Forces, or of course in our vital public services.
Usually, I spend Christmas Day visiting some of those in Northampton who spend the day at work or on duty, with previous Christmas Day visits, for example, to Northamptonshire Police or Northampton General Hospital.
This was clearly not possible last month due to the pandemic. However I remain in very regular communication with the leaders in our Police, Fire, NHS, and other public services, and I will continue to support them in any way I can.
It is also something of a tradition for me to visit BBC Radio Northampton on Christmas Day, but again, restrictions presented by Covid-19 meant that instead I spoke to presenter Helen Blaby over the phone.
This allows me to pay tribute to the people of Northampton and notably this year to the key workers who have worked exceptionally hard in keeping our country going and keeping us safe, and I also get the chance to request a song on air! For those of you who might be interested, the Christmas song I picked (and indeed always pick!) was as usual Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You.