Last Thursday the door to my Wharfside Shopping Centre office was kicked in and CCTV shows a determined effort to inflict as much damage as possible.

This behaviour does not surprise me but if the motivation is a dislike for me and the way I do my job it achieves nothing. What it does do is affect my staff who do the job because they care about the people who walk into my office or call or email in need of assistance. And my staff are good at their job and remarkably divorced from party politics when serving in my office. This level of vandalism also adds to the workload of our police men and women and costs the tax-payer. I am quite convinced that whoever is responsible won’t be reading this but, whilst vandalism and antisocial behaviour towards me and my office are rare, emails with content that is unacceptable in a civilised society are not. I can guarantee that my staff will be exposed to this content as well as me - the intended recipient. I’ve had staff leave in the past due to the toxic nature of some of the correspondence and I feel strongly defensive of my staff who can feel worn down and discouraged. We live in a democratic society and people will be able to make their feelings known later in the year as they did on Thursday at the polls. For those who feel the need to email or post on social media (I suspect a way they would never speak to me in person) could you please spare my staff and express your view at the next polling day. Thank you.

I write this on Friday before counting the votes has concluded. It is obviously not the Conservative Party’s hour and Rishi and the Chancellor must listen to what people are saying. I believe Rishi must set out his clear and bold vision for Great Britain and Northern Ireland with further clarity about how we will support and build our arm forces, how we will project our place in the world through innovation and compassion and how we will improve lives in all parts of the country as we move to a healthier and fairer society. The transition away from fossil fuels offers the most exciting opportunities for every part of the country and every household. Rishi could be much clearer how we are going to deliver this including the healthy homes and skilled jobs everyone deserves to have access to.

At this stage I’ve no idea if Alison Hernandez has held her position as Police and Crime Commissioner. She has certainly worked hard. As votes for the PCC were verified, figures I’ve seen show much stronger support for Labour in this seat (St Ives) than some believe. I’m not so sure that it will the two-horse race at the next General Election is assumed. Either way, I’ll continue to the job as best as I know how and people will have the opportunity to judge me on that when the time comes.