In my previous role as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons I represented the Government from the despatch box many times; however, on Thursday, 8th February 2018 I answered questions for the first time in my capacity as Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has a 45 minute question and answer sessions in the House of Commons every five weeks and I answer the questions which are related to my role – this time there were 5 questions for me.
The questions ranged from what I am doing to support the tourism sector in England and whether I would encourage people to visit Northern Ireland – to which I pointed out some of the huge attractions to visit in Northern Ireland such as the set for Game of Thrones!
In this country we have a strong and vital tradition of holding our Government ministers to account and questions such as these are a cornerstone of such accountability. Backbench MPs can and do often ask very challenging questions of ministers and it is a much needed part of a thriving and working democracy.
I enjoyed representing the Government and DCMS from the despatch box with the great ministerial team and I look forward to doing so in the future!