Three new MPs from the district have made it through their first months in Westminster, witnessed first-hand an historic coalition being formed and learnt the quirky ways of Parliament.

But it has not been without tough decisions, with all three MPs voting to raise tuition fees to up to £9,000 a year.

Bradford East Liberal Democrat MP David Ward said: “Truth is, it has been hard work and I don’t just mean the long hours. The challenge has been to try and discover how I can use the many weird and confusing Parliamen-tary procedures to raise issues of local importance.

“I represent one of the most deprived constituencies on the Government side of the House and this makes me acutely aware of my responsibility to ensure that the Government understands how its policies and initiatives will impact on my constituents.

“I have argued and on a number of occasions, voted against the Govern-ment on issues such as the creation of free schools and the scrapping of Educational Maintenance Allowances but voted for raising tuition fees to protect Higher Education funding and because the new system is so much fairer for young people from deprived backgrounds.”

Keighley Conservative MP Kris Hopkins said: “There have been difficult times and decisions to be made. When you are left facing such enormous levels of debt as we were with the country in an almost unprecedented financial position it is not easy and tough decisions have to be made, including raising tuition fees.

“Being a former leader of Bradford Council I also found it hard regarding council cuts as I know the challenges ahead. But each part of government has to play a real part in trying to rectify the disastrous position we found ourselves in.”

Mr Hopkins said he had also done all he could to persuade the responsible minister not to close the two Keighley courts.

Fellow new Tory MP Julian Smith, who represents Skipton, has been appointed Private Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intern-ational Development.

Mr Smith said: “One of the first decisions made by the new Government that directly affected Skipton was the proposed closure of the magistrates’ and county court. I decided that this would be a huge mistake and helped to lead a campaign to keep the courts open.”