Tony Blair's unprecedented standing ovation from both the Chamber and Public Gallery of the House of Commons had barely ended before the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown was rolling out a series of rapid policy changes to herald the start of a new government.
The Prime Minister's first task, almost before his new Cabinet had managed to adjust to their new positions, was to deal with more instances of terrorism on the streets of Britain. The solid, detailed, approach with which the Prime Minister and the new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith dealt with these issues was exactly what the nation wanted to hear; this was a time for facts, not theatre.
Many observers believed that the new Prime Minister would be tested by these events so soon into his administration. If he was, it didn't show. Whilst simultaneously dealing with the terror threat, Prime Minister Brown unveiled a series of new policies of real importance to West Cumbria and the country at large.
First of all, the Prime Minister wasted no time in announcing radical measures to restore trust in politics and the process of government through constitutional change - giving more powers to the House of Commons and beginning the process of establishing a new Bill of Rights.
Secondly, the new Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced a review of the NHS, promising to listen to NHS workers as the process of service improvement continues. This wide-ranging review will not be undertaken by a politician or a civil servant, but will be led by Professor Ara Darzi- one of the world’s leading surgeons. This is a once in a generation opportunity to ensure that a properly resourced NHS is clinically led, patient-centred and locally accountable.
In addition to this, the new Secretary of State for Universities and Skills, John Denham announced new policies aimed at encouraging more people into Higher education by promising to increase the number of students entitled to full maintenance grants worth £2,700 per year. This means that students from families with incomes of up to £25,000 will be entitled to full grants - at present only students from households with incomes of up to £17,500 are entitled to full grants. This equates to a further 50,000 students receiving full grants each year. Not only this, but students whose families have household incomes of up to £60,000 a year will be eligible for a grant in future. And all in time for the brand new University of Cumbria which opens its doors this Autumn.
All of these initiatives are welcome; all of them will assist me in my work to regenerate Copeland and West Cumbria. But I wasn't the only one impressed by the new Prime Minister. Former Conservative MP Quentin Davies crossed the floor to join the Labour benches due to what he described as David Cameron's "PR agenda" and the Conservative approach towards the NHS and the nuclear industry. In his resignation letter to the Tory leader Quentin wrote that "it seems that your hasty rejection of nuclear energy as a 'last resort' was also driven by your PR imperatives rather than by other considerations."
Gordon Brown was quick to accept Quentin into the party - illustrating how anyone who cares about the country's future progressive direction now has a natural home in Labour. In the space of a week Gordon Brown has changed British politics fundamentally and for the better. Is this what we expected? Yes, Prime Minister.