THIS Christmas Eve will be just like any other for the Banbury MP – she will be trying to herd sheep, chickens, dogs, donkeys and children into church.
Victoria Prentis has been organising the Somerton Nativity for years, but when she was elected she tried to hand over the role for fear she would be too busy.
There were no takers, however, so in between debates in the chamber and sorting constituents’ problems, she will also be organising animals and a baby into St James’ Church, where she is also churchwarden.
Mrs Prentis was elected in May, her first time as an MP, taking over the Banbury post from long-standing MP Sir Tony Baldry, who stepped down after 32 years representing the patch.
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Those first eight months have been a whirlwind for the novice MP.
She said: “I can’t believe it's been that long – it feels like ten minutes.”
Among the highlights so far have been an impromptu glider flight and an inter-school democracy challenge she organised, where school teams pitted against each other debating issues. The winners were invited to London to tour parliament.
She said: “I had a glider flight around Bicester – I had a look at my constituency from the air – that was a high point. It wasn’t planned, it just happened."
Once the nativity is finished, Christmas will be a blur of turkey and church. Come the New Year overseeing growth across her constituency will be Mrs Prentis’s priority.
She said: “The focus is still the same, growing Bicester and Banbury in a way we can call cope with it locally.”
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