Duncan Baker

I would like to take a moment to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for the overwhelming volume of support I have received following the election result. As you can imagine I have been absolutely inundated with emails and messages over the past few days. I can’t thank you enough for the kind wishes, commiserations and genuine support.

The outpouring has been humbling to say the very least. To serve your home, where you were born and grew up, is a role few get to do in their lives, and I have always tried to do it with absolute dedication, decency and integrity. So, I leave Parliament with my head held high and certainly enriched by the incredible experience the past 4.5 years have given. For me, the privilege to serve in Parliament was driven simply by the desire to help people. I never set out in life to do it, but compassion and public service to help those around me was my core belief.

Over the last few years, myself and my dedicated office team have helped thousands upon thousands of constituents, day in, day out. It has been a blessing and the most rewarding aspect of representing you. This election was an incredibly close call, and we were fighting an uphill battle with the national picture. However, we did very well in North Norfolk to buck the national trend by gaining 16,903 votes. However, as many people have rightly mentioned, Reform did gain an exceptional number of votes not only in North Norfolk but across the country, and in no small way cost us the win in North Norfolk. However, this message is not to analyse what went wrong, it is simply to say thank you. I am so proud of the many accomplishments in this period, proud of the huge amount of money raised for local charities which I know has benefited so many and my leading role of caring for those fleeing Ukraine and taking aid to the region.

More than anything I want to thank my wonderful office team. They go above and beyond to help residents and I couldn’t do this role without them. I am looking to return to working in the business, commercial or charitable sector after a short break with my family. Norfolk has a lot of wonderful businesses and I look forward to new opportunities life affords me.

I am easily contactable if people wish to get in touch. Thank you once again to everyone who has taken the time to write to me and my team, we really appreciate all of the support we have received.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan