The gathering was intended to introduce the new intake to the political news outlet and reacquaint established Members with the service.
PoliticsHome’s incoming editor Kevin Schofield, leaving his role as the Sun’s chief political correspondent, addressed attendees, welcoming them to the event and outlining what the website offers.
He said: “Congratulations to all the new MPs on your election victory… I know it was a very hard fought campaign having covered it and it threw up more than a few surprises, not least on the night itself. So, well done getting here and now the hard work really starts.
“PoliticsHome is a vital tool, not just for journalists like myself, but for MPs and other staff as well. It is becoming a vital resource… MPs and their staff get free access to the website and can receive the early morning briefing, which has also become an essential part of the Westminster day.”
Fellow speaker Sir Paul Beresford, Conservative MP for Mole Valley, echoed this sentiment, describing PoliticsHome as a “fascinating website.”
Encouraging colleagues to take advantage of the website, he said: “It is a real opportunity for you to get across your thoughts. It is an opportunity to pick up other people's thoughts. Even better it is an opportunity for you, without having to fight the Whip and the various powers that be that won’t allow you to speak, to get your point across. You can get your point across not just in the House but right across. Virtually no one will read Hansard, but they will read this. So, I can recommend you get into it.”
Paying tribute to the event’s supporter, Heathrow, Mr Schofield went on to express his views on the ongoing debate on airport capacity in the South East, which he said, “seems to have been going on forever.”
“It will be one of the key topics that we at PoliticsHome will be covering in the months ahead and we are hoping that we will finally get an answer by the end of the year,” he added.
Building on this, Claire Harbord, corporate affairs director at Heathrow, stressed the significance of the Airports Commission’s forthcoming decision on how to increase UK aviation capacity.
She said: “The recommendation is only weeks, days away. So, the pressure is on, the tension is rising and it is an incredibly important decision, not only for the South East and London but for the whole country. And this decision is not just about a runway, it is about the future of our great trading nation and it is about where we stand and our place in the world. So, this is not just an aviation issue, it is really something very important for the nation.”
Making the case for Heathrow, Ms Harbord added: “We can only achieve this with one answer, and that answer is Heathrow. We have no issue with expansion at any other airport. Our competition is not within the UK, our competition is with the other hubs in Frankfurt, Schiphol and Paris and we want to deliver what all politicians, and all businesses want, and what only a UK hub can do, which is to connect all of the UK to global growth.
“Our economy needs to be at the heart of global growth and we are the only airport with connections to every single continent, and only we can deliver that at Heathrow.”