I NEVER dreamt of becoming an MP during my formative years in Lampeter, writes Ben Lake, MP.

In fact, at eight years old, my sole aspiration was to become a scuba diver. After graduating, and with the somewhat limited career opportunities for scuba divers off the Ceredigion coastline, I found myself being drawn to public office.

Exhilaration, trepidation and exhaustion; I’ve felt them all since being elected as MP for Ceredigion.

I’ve also come to realise that there are two sides to my political life now: the politics of protocol, tradition and ceremony at Westminster and the grassroots politics of listening, engaging and campaigning here in Ceredigion.

No two days are ever the same, but, what does a typical day in my life look like?

Well, I spend most of my working week at Westminster, travelling from Lampeter to London on a Monday afternoon or a Tuesday morning, and returning to Ceredigion on the Thursday.

Early starts are a must at Westminster and I try to arrive by 7.15am – this has not been an easy adjustment for someone who greatly appreciates their sleep!

Each sitting in the House of Commons begins with prayers. MPs can use prayers cards to reserve seats in the chamber for the remainder of that sitting day. Once my seat is reserved, I make my way to my office where I attend to my inbox.

I receive hundreds of emails every day, ranging from urgent calls for support from constituents to invitations to charity events and policy enquiries.

After a couple of hours responding to emails and preparing for the day ahead, I make my way to the House of Commons for Question Time.

The chamber itself is relatively small, and can accommodate only 427 of the 650 Members of Parliament. Compared to the circular debating chamber at the Welsh Assembly, which one could argue encourages a more consensual form of politics, the adversarial layout of the House of Commons chamber encourages debates of a more competitive nature.

By now, I’ve grown accustomed to addressing members of Parliament as ‘the Honourable (or Right Honourable) Member’ and referring to them by the name of their constituency or by their official position during debates.

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