I got a new job this week. It’s one that I’ve aspired to for a long time.

I’ve had a shot at getting it before, but it didn’t work out. This time, however, Watford voted for Labour’s offer of change in the general election on July 4. We won it and so, it’s off to Parliament I go.

The first job I ever did was delivering newspapers. I loved it. My dad worked in the print, so newspapers were already a big part of our family. To this day, I still prefer the smell of the newsprint to the thumb scroll on a phone for getting news.

My new job this week was to start as Watford’s MP. I’ve visited the House of Commons before but not many times. You may have visited yourself. A friend of mine described it as “Hogwarts for grown-ups.” At first pass, that seems to be a pretty accurate description.

I don’t know if JK Rowling had a job there when she was younger, but the moving staircases in her tales of wizardry could definitely have been modelled on trying to find your way around the parliamentary estate without a map in hand.

I’ve done a number of different jobs over the years and it’s always an interesting experience to start somewhere new. I’ve been a supermarket shelf stacker, worked in a number of pubs, done a stint as a dustman as well. I’ve also worked for marketing agencies, the BBC and in health and social care.

The most exciting thing about my new job is that I have been sent there by you. I will make sure that I am Watford’s voice in Westminster and not the other way round.

  • Matt Turmaine is Labour MP for Watford