CATHERINE Fookes MP has marked two years since being elected as the Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire, reflecting on some of the community wins.

Since being elected July 2024, Catherine has focused on three key priorities: cleaning up Monmouthshire’s rivers following years of pollution, fighting for women’s equality and tackling violence against women, and improving Monmouthshire's local economy through improvements to local transport and high streets.

One example is Magor Walkway Station, where Catherine worked with the community to help finally secure its development through £445 million of UK Government rail investment in South Wales.

Catherine has also secured £1 million for repairs to Inglis Bridge in Monmouth , connecting the Rockfield side of Monmouth town to Osbaston, allowing people to enjoy Vauxhall fields and for children to safely walk to Osbaston Primary.

Catherine is also currently running a campaign to make Chepstow Train Station accessible for wheelchair users. Her petition has already attracted more than 1,500 signatures.

She has also launched a campaign to support the council in filling empty units on Monmouthshire’s high streets. Catherine secured £1.5 million in funding from the UK Government’s Pride in Place scheme to invest in Monmouthshire’s town centres.

On rivers, Catherine has consistently lobbied the UK Government in Parliament to raise the pollution of the Wye, Usk and Monnow.

This helped secure £1 million from Defra for a major cross-border project to clean up the River Wye. She also helped develop the Water (Special Measures) Act in Parliament, new legislation to clamp down on water polluters.

In terms of supporting residents, since being elected in July 2024, Catherine and her team have responded to more than 22,000 emails form residents and helped resolve over 2,000 individual casework issues.

Over the past two years, Catherine has also held more than 260 meetings, visits, coffee mornings and advice surgeries across Monmouthshire, while raising local issues and residents’ concerns in Parliament more than 140 times.

Catherine Fookes MP said: “The meetings I hold aren’t just meetings for meetings’ sake. They lead to action. For example, in Skenfrith, which has flooded every year for the past for the past four years, very little real action has been taken to support residents.

“As soon as I was elected, I brought together members of the community and agencies such as Natural Resources Wales, the council and Welsh Government. This has led to individual houses having pumps installed.

“NRW are also now looking at installing flood defences, something which before they said was not possible.”

On women’s equality, Catherine has raised various issues in Parliament and is working on supporting women who suffering from economic abuse via the Child Maintenance System.

“Monmouthshire has been my home for more than 25 years, and it remains the greatest honour of my life to represent our communities and my neighbours in Parliament.

“Over the last two years, I have met thousands of residents, listened to concerns, helped people through difficult situations, campaigned on local issues and worked to secure real investment for our area.”