After the excitement of Christmas and the New Year, January can be a hard month for some. For me, it's been great to come back refreshed and get back to work.

Our Christmas card competition has gone from strength to strength and I'm sure we'll soon have every primary school in Lewisham East taking part.

My New Year message this year would in many respects echo the message delivered by the Prime Minister. It is possible that a year of belt-tightening may well be before us. If that is the case then there could be no better man for the job than someone who successfully presided over the Treasury for ten years. 

But I'd also like to point out the yearning for - and the excitment produced by - democracy around the world. In Kenya and Pakistan we've witnessed how people all over the world still have an appetite for democracy whahtever their circumstances. In the United States we've transfixed by the glamour, the diversity and the excitement of the race for the nominations for the Democratic and Rebublican parties.  

Global ecomonic growth may be slowing, but we in Britain have a lot to be proud of. This year, I'll be as proud to represent Lewisham as I was on the first day of my election.

Happy New Year,

Bridget