I’m heading down to London today, hugely grateful for the support of the people of Sheffield Central in returning me as their Member of Parliament, but deeply disappointed by the devastating defeat for Labour across the country last Thursday.

The House of Commons meets tomorrow to elect a Speaker, but today I’m attending the funeral of Frank Dobson, who was a major figure in the Labour movement until his retirement as an MP in 2015. Although our time in Parliament only briefly overlapped, I worked with Frank in the Anti-Apartheid Movement for many years.

After electing a Speaker, members will be sworn in over Tuesday and Wednesday. The Queen’s Speech, setting out the Government’s programme, will be held on Thursday. On Friday we expect that the Government will move the Second Reading of their EU Withdrawal Bill, in which I’ll be involved as a Shadow Brexit Minister.

Parliament is then expected to go into recess until 6 January, when I’ll post my next weekly preview. Until then I wish everyone the very best for Christmas and the New Year.