I am looking forward to getting to know my MP.

I think I like Andrew Stephenson, my successor as MP for Pendle. As the new Parliament gets down to business I shall be looking out for Andrew.

Of course, we crossed swords during the campaign. That is to be expected. But he always struck me as a decent kind of guy.

At the election hustings he came across (to me) as competent – even if I felt he was reciting from memory the Conservative Central Office script.

Yes. He is a Conservative but, hey, these days, what does that matter?

For all I know, his views could be at the Lib Dem end of the Government’s spectrum. In due course we shall find out.

Andrew shadowed me in Pendle for close to four years. His “Pendle Matters” freesheets were everywhere. His face became very familiar to local folk. He was photographed on top of Pendle Hill, on the Great Wall of China, and at every village fete and Tufty Club in the constituency.

And yet, after years of looking at this meticulously planned programme of activity, I feel I still don’t know him.

So, I am looking forward to hearing his first speech in the Commons. Seeing where his interests take him.

I am interested in the questions he asks. The campaigns he supports. The choices he makes.

Will he be outspoken? Will he slavishly follow the Cameron line?

Will he challenge the Government? And, if so, over which issues?

What expenses will he claim?

And, as he legislates on our behalf, will we continue to get Pendle Matters through our letterboxes?

Perhaps a daily blog? A weekly Youtube?

I don’t know.

I wait, we all wait, in anticipation.