Party conference season has ended

THE party conference season has now drawn to a conclusion and, by the time this article is published, the attention of MPs will be on returning to Westminster.

For me, this will mean acting as your voice in Parliament and raising the issues that matter to Newton Abbot and Teignmouth.

As always, if I can ever be of assistance then please do just let me know.

Party conference season is, however, one of the yearly highlights for those interested in politics and so I will try to capture what they are like for you by describing what I got up to in my next column.

The build up has certainly been interesting and it promises to be a lively conference!

The Labour Party Conference this year was held in Manchester.

The keynote speech from Ed Miliband will be remembered for reintroducing the concept of 'One Nation' into political discussion.

Those who know their political history will be aware that the term is most often mentioned alongside nineteenth century Conservative Party Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli.

A strange choice for a Labour Party leader perhaps, although I believe Ed Miliband was evoking the spirit of Disraeli in order to convey that he wants to govern for everyone — rather than one sectional interest.

This is fine in theory, although I am sure that every leader of a mainstream political party would argue that they want to govern in the interests of all rather then some.

As good as theory is though, I do believe that concrete policy — rather than theoretical rhetoric — is what people ultimately want to hear.

The Labour Party has suggested it is undertaking a policy review so I guess that we will have to wait for this to conclude before we get an inkling of what Ed Miliband would do if he was Prime Minister.

THE Olympic and Paralympic Games in London were absolutely tremendous.

Both events proved beyond doubt that our country can successfully host the world's biggest occasions better than anyone else.

From the exceptional opening ceremony through to the accomplishments achieved by our athletes, the Olympic Games really were a wonderful spectacle that will live long in the memory.

I believe the true legacy of the games, beyond the regeneration of Stratford and the surrounding area, will be watching young people take up sporting activity.

For the dedicated and talented few, London 2012 will be the inspiration that drives them onto achieving their own sporting immortality.

For the vast majority of those inspired to take up sport however, success will mean people simply giving sport a go... and sticking to it.

It is here that I believe our local community sports clubs have an essential role to play.

It is here, in the main, where those inspired to take up sport will head to in the first instance.

It is, therefore, vital that we do everything we can to support our local community sports clubs.

We need to ensure that they have everything they need to retain their new recruits.

It was with this in mind that I teamed up with Teignbridge District Council last year in order to organise a sports summit.

The idea was to create a forum where local sports clubs could come together with policy makers to discuss what they need from us to sustain and improve on their sports offerings.

The event proved to be extremely successful and I hope the occasion will be repeated in the near future.

We are extremely fortunate in Newton Abbot and Teignmouth that we have a number of fantastic local community sports clubs.

Youngsters inspired to take up sport having watched the Olympics will find themselves able to engage in good facilities at well-run clubs.

For my part, I want to ensure our local community sports clubs have the financial backing they need to build on the success of the games.

Upon my return to the House of Commons, I will be lobbying the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to push them into allocating additional resources for our local sports clubs.

They are part of the fabric of our communities and they deserve the full support of policymakers.

After all, the young budding sportsman who turns up to one of our clubs this autumn, having watched the Olympic Games, may well be a future gold medallist.