One year ago, in the wake of an indecisive outcome to the May 2010 General Election, two parties came together to form a strong, stable government in the national interest. The priority of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition is to deal with the economic mess bequeathed to us by the previous Labour government. We inherited the most difficult economic legacy of any peacetime government. That is why we have taken urgent action to reduce our deficit and ensure that government once again lives within its means.

But we have also taken steps to help families struggling with the cost of living – removing millions of the lowest paid from income tax altogether, freezing Council Tax and reducing fuel duty. At the same time we have launched the most radical change to benefits and pensions in half a century – launching the simpler Universal Credit to ensure work always pays, restoring the earnings link to pensions and introducing the new single-tier state pension. We have given powers to teachers to restore discipline to schools, introduced the Pupil Premium for the poorest students and created more academies in one year than Labour did in 13 years.

We have protected NHS spending, set an annual £2.5 billion levy on the banks that will make them safer for society, put a referendum lock on further transfer of powers to Brussels, scrapped ID cards, stopped airport expansion and taken steps to bring down immigration from the hundreds to the tens of thousands. But much more remains to be done over the next four years, and I look forward to working with my ministerial colleagues to ensure that the concerns of Orpington residents are reflected in government policy.