Dean Russell has said he would like to be “the first rocket man of Watford” as the new MP for the town made his maiden speech in parliament.

The Conservative MP referred to Elton John, a former chairman of Watford Football Club, and his famous song title ‘Rocket Man’ as he said “we can soar to the stars” during his speech in the House of Commons yesterday (January 16).

As with other MPs making their maiden speech in Parliament, Mr Russell was given 10 minutes to deliver a non-controversial speech.

During which Mr Russell praised former MP for the town Richard Harrington, who stood down at the last General Election.

Mr Russell joked that he thought people were “taking a dig at his height” when people would tell him that he had “big shoes to fill”.

But the new MP went onto say: “I soon found it was because of Richard’s amazing legacy and the work he has done for the people of Watford.

“Everyone who knows him will know that he works tirelessly and is a true gentleman.”

Mr Russell also acknowledged the “incredible wealth of world-famous Watfordians” during his speech, mentioning Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, boxing heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and England Football manager Gareth Southgate.

And the MP invited Prime Minister Boris Johnson down to the Warner Brothers Studio and the Harry Potter tour over his passion of buses.

He said: “Given his love of buses, I would like to invite the Prime Minister to visit the studio, because we have neither a boring single-decker bus nor a boring double-decker bus; we have the world-famous Harry Potter triple-decker ‘Knight Bus.’ Who can beat that?”

Mr Russell added that Watford is “a massive magnet for investment and business” and urged MPs to visit Watford Market, the High Street and the Intu centre “for a most delectable day out”.

The MP also said it was important “to bring the world back together, to be less divisive and to try to tie those threads together”.

He said: “I have had a daily philosophy for many years, and it goes like this: HOPE is an acronym and it stands for Help One Person Everyday.

“If we all do that in our own lives, in a way that changes people’s lives, we will have a better world.

“I feel honoured to be in this place as a Conservative, to enable that on a much bigger scale. We may be able to effect laws and change legislation, but changing people’s lives is surely why we are here.”

Rounding off his speech, Mr Russell said: “In the past few years, we have seen lots of divisiveness, but let us have an age of decisiveness.

“Let’s not just get Brexit done—let’s get stuff done, to make people’s lives better. I believe that our manifesto and the Queen’s Speech have shown that that is our goal. As we enter 2020, let us lead the world in relentless positivity, optimism and can-do-ism, and turn this into the soaring 20s.

“As I complete my speech—I may be going over time; I apologise—I just want to thank people for electing me to be on this Bench and tell them that I will work tirelessly for the people of Watford, and with all Members here, to make the world a better place.”