I will never forget my feelings of amazement and awe when I first entered Central Lobby in the Palace of Westminster. And little wonder: it's a dazzling sight, a towering stone hall built in the Gothic renaissance style, its ceiling encrusted with mosaics showing the saints and symbols of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Just over two years after our incredible £22.4 million win from the Stronger Towns Fund, construction work is starting on the early projects. It is extremely exciting, and potentially transformational for Herefordshire.

Local MP Jesse Norman has warmly welcomed news today that the government's Office for Students (OfS) has granted new degree awarding powers to NMITE, Herefordshire's pioneering new university project.

Local MP Jesse Norman welcomes news that the county has been awarded a £5 million grant to redevelop the Hereford Museum and Art Gallery by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Almost exactly two years! That is what I was thinking, as I looked round the room at the Left Bank last Tuesday.

Late spring and early summer are a glorious time to be in Herefordshire. But with rising temperatures and more sunshine come more tourists -- and renewed public concern about the River Wye.

At this time of year Herefordshire is full of the joys of spring. But for me this has also been a sad period, for we have lost three great figures from our county, each of whom I massively liked and admired.

Last year I had the opportunity to visit the remarkable Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry. The MTC is a huge, state-of-the-art set of facilities dedicated to showcasing the very best of today's manufacturing technologies.

Local MP Jesse Norman recently met with Helen Venn, the Chief Regulatory Officer at the Office of Environmental Protection (OEP), and her team to discuss the plight of the River Wye.