And it is clear we have some excellent local activists working day in day out for their communities, so even if they are not yet on the council it is only a matter of time. Thank you to everyone who took the time to speak to us.

After the results were counted on Friday morning, I spent the rest of the weekend with my family resting my tired legs from all the campaigning, before playing my part leading the traditional May Day parade behind the band that marches through the town centre. It is my favourite day of the year and we were luckier with the weather this year than we have been in recent years.

On the speakers' platform this year, as well as myself, was Pendle MP Gordon Prentice, who spoke alongside a speaker from the national Fairtrade Foundation who congratulated the town on its recent achievement of Fairtrade status. She pointed out how our individual actions in buying Fairtrade tea and coffee can have an enormous impact on the lives of the poorest in the world. We also heard from Pendle's County Coun. Tim Ormerod, who updated us on some of the excellent work the Co-operative movement is undertaking, locally and around the world.

In my speech I discussed the political environment we are facing at the moment. If you cast your mind back to 1997 and the promises Labour made when we took office, they have been way surpassed. Employment is high and rising, people are living longer, healthier lives and crime is substantially down. Inflation remains historically low, as do interest rates. But people are now worried about new things: fuel prices, food prices, the state of the housing market and our challenge in government is to provide the reassurance people need in the uncertainty provided by the US subprime crisis.

It was back down to London on Monday evening to face my first day at the Treasury since returning from maternity leave.

It was great to be back and to catch up with the teams that have been working hard during my absence. First up was the Finance Bill, which entered its committee stage in Parliament this week, having had contentious debates on the 10p rate of tax in the House of Commons. On that, the Government has promised to bring forward a package of help shortly for the two groups of people who did not benefit from the wider changes in the last Budget, namely some 60 to 64-year-olds and some employees who could not access the raised level of tax credits.

In the meantime, the other provisions of the Finance Bill, which seeks to put the Budget into law, are being debated and will take up the bulk of my time between now and early July. But I am back in the constituency this weekend with a number of workplace visits as well as my usual surgery in Padiham tonight, followed by an essential visit to the Clarets Trust beer festival, so I hope to see you there.