Dr Peter Prinsley, MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket lays out what it’s like being in Parliament

A year into his tenure as MP, Dr Peter Prinsley lays out what it's like to take on the role.

The MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket has said himself he did not expect to win on the night, having to overturn what he called an 'absolute mountain of votes' — nearly 25,000 to be more precise.

A year later, however, he has now had the chance to speak with those in Government making the big decisions on behalf of residents in his constituency.

Dr Peter Prinsley said the shift from being an NHS ear, nose and throat surgeon to walking the halls of Parliament had been a 'complete transformation' in his life.

"I did feel in hospitals that I was sufficiently experienced to understand what was happening and what needed to be done," he said, "whereas here a lot of things that are happening to me are completely new."

"I didn't necessarily know exactly what was going to happen to the patients, but I knew exactly where I was going to be and what I would be doing.

"That has completely changed because every day is different — I travel a lot, I sort of sometimes feel as if I live on the railway line."

Since being elected, despite retiring from the NHS to focus on his new life as a politician, he says there still needs to be some juggling to handle the exhausting work in Parliament.

Read More – Paul Derrick and Ross Waldron speak to Dr Prinsley on his first year as the first ever Labour MP for the area

Though different at every turn of the clock, his days in Parliament can start in the early morning and run into the night, with some votes taking place around 11pm and meetings throughout the day with the likes of the BBC and Sizewell.

According to Hansard, the official report of all Parliamentary debates, Dr Prinsley has had 96 official participations in the House of Commons, from speeches to questions, since being elected.

When not in Parliament, Dr Prinsley says, his days are filled with constituency work, having just opened his new parliamentary office to the public in Stowmarket.

Reflecting on his work on behalf of his constituents, he says Suffolk and the wider East of England are making more noise nationally after some of the previous MPs had 'run out of steam'.

The current batch of local representatives, he adds, is eager to drive a positive change in the county.