New Colchester MP highlights value of research in maiden speech

New Colchester MP Pam Cox highlighted the value of academic research during her maiden speech in the House of Commons.

Pam was a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Essex until being elected as Colchester's first woman MP this year and has continued to support the work of the University - most recently attending the Department's 60th anniversary conference.

In her speech she emphasised the importance of her academic training and experience in policy engagement for her new role as an MP.

She said: "I am not a career politician. I have spent most of my life researching, teaching and leading in higher education, much of it at the outstanding University of Essex. I worked in social history and social sciences.

"It is my firm belief that only by understanding what has worked and what has mattered in the past can we hope to build a better future. I have written about the history of work, criminal justice, social care and education. I have used that knowledge to help to lead present-day policy change in youth services, family courts, women’s employment and victims’ rights.

"There is a red thread running through my work, which has traced how modes of governing have changed over time and how we have come to govern in the name of freedom with the aim of enabling people to truly flourish. If our country is to flourish, everyone must have the opportunity to thrive. We need decent public services that give everyone the best start in life and support us through to life’s end. That is a collective endeavour."

Pam made her maiden speech as she spoke in support of the Government's Renters’ Rights Bill. In the speech she paid tribute to her predecessors Will Quince and Sir Bob Russell alongside Charles Smith, later Lord Delacourt-Smith, the only other Labour MP in Colchester's history who was part of the Labour Government elected in 1945. In line with the tradition of maiden speeches in the House of Commons, Pam also celebrated many aspects of her Colchester constituency.

She added: "Colchester has been a wonderful home to me and my family. I stood for election first as a city councillor and then as an MP because I wanted to give back to that community that has given us so much."

• Read the full speech on the UK Parliament website