With the dust settling from the general election, Parliament has now started properly.

The new MPs are all settling down and after we all took the oath of allegiance, the Queen delivered her second Queen’s Speech in short order.

The Queen’s Speech was, in its broadest sense, not dissimilar to the earlier one this year, but with the promises from the general election manifesto added.

Of course, priority is to deliver on the 2016 referendum and the manifesto pledges of three general elections to deliver the will of the people.

Brexit will be delivered by February 1 and I cannot see anything that will change that.

But the Queen’s Speech was about far more than Brexit. Its promise of more investment into the NHS, schools, law and order and other areas of government confirms the Prime Minister’s intention to take the centre ground of politics.

The “One Nation” mantra is confirmed by these commitments and it was notable that Jeremy Corbyn was claiming these policies are imitations of his (we have, of course, completely rejected the plan to seize control of utilities from private savers, faced with poor compensation for investments held in pension funds).

There will be a period of frenetic Brexit-related activity to get the Withdrawal Agreement Bill through Parliament, and then we can get back to the proper job of delivering good government and good governance.

And we can be reasonably sure that we will not have a general election until the first Thursday in May, 2024 (although repealing the Fixed Term Parliament Act will allow the PM to be able to decide his general election timing).

So we look to start the new year with a completely fresh parliament, a fresh government, an opportunity to breathe life back into a government that has been starved of oxygen by Brexit, and a strong desire to do the right thing by our country.

Naturally, Labour voters who have lent Conservatives their support should not be disappointed, whilst Conservative supporters should be pleased with our agenda.

To use a seasonal metaphor, it feels like Parliament has emerged from a bleak winter of misery to the warm sun of an optimistic spring.

It just remains for me to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a happy new year, and to thank everyone who will be working over Christmas to keep us all safe – NHS workers, police, fire service and other emergency workers, as well as huge numbers of people who spend Christmas keeping everything going so that we can spend time with our families. Thanks you for all you do for us.