Earlier this month or perhaps last month, I wrote an email to Nick Boles MP, a man with whom I've had a little contact with and wanted to raise concerns about social welfare. In essence, my argument was that I was being unfairly excluded from claiming social welfare because I hadn't had a job during my time at university that contributed national insurance and because I was in a relationship where my partner worked more than sixteen hours and therefore we qualified for zero support from the government. I had a response a few days ago from his caseworker asking me to send my national insurance number so he could check it out but I imagined that wouldn't go anywhere and it didn't seem like a good reason to blog.
Well, I just got an e-mail back from the caseworker and, in what has got to be one of the most surprising things this year, Nick Boles decided to write to the Rt. Hon. Chris Grayling MP (that's how he was described in the e-mail), the Minister of State Department for Work and Pensions and Lord David Freud, the Minister for Welfare in the House of Lords Now, I wouldn't have expected that. I wouldn't have expected Mr Boles to write to two people who are rather high up in the Conservative government chain to ask about this state of affairs. I don't know what Mr Boles' opinion is on all of this and whether he necessarily agrees with me that the social welfare system is all a little ridiculous at the minute but the fact he's gone away, done his research and said "I'm going to do something for my constituent" just goes to show that the Conservative Party isn't all that people make them out to be.
With this being the huge surprise that it is, I'm not expecting Mr Boles to come back to me in a week or two and say "You know what, we completely agree with you and we're going to reform the system because one person has complained" but it's nice that he's bothered. I've seen a lot of criticism in the local newspapers about how much a party man Mr Boles is but I'm beginning to see why he was selected as a candidate. He's an extremely intelligent and considerate man and he's someone who is constantly referenced as being a progressive Conservative when there's talk of a leadership challenge for David Cameron. I wouldn't be surprised if, in the expected cabinet reshuffle, he finds himself in a better position than he currently is (Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Schools Minister). It's an assessment quite a few people have made, including The Telegraph who listed him as one to watch.
All this means that I won't be able to write him long, angry e-mails and complain but I'll be proud to say that I'd support his re-election in this constituency. On two occasions, I've contacted him and in both those situations, I've felt like he's dealt with them in a professional manner that takes into consideration the issues I've raised. Too much is made of how MPs from the 2010 batch are all baiting their breath to boot Cameron out. Now, all I have to do is convince Mr Boles to give me a job and I'll be sorted for the next twelve months. I think I've earned it with all the complaining I do.
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