Atkins’ confident start as a minister bodes well for tricky bill

Vicky Atkins was the first MP from the 2015 intake to become a minister, and had been preparing assiduously for doing so. She asked loyal questions of the Prime Minister and beavered away on the Home Affairs Committee and the joint committee examining the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill. But it was obvious that this very capable backbencher wanted to join the government – and that she was very likely to do well as a minister. Today’s Home Office questions marked her first outing on the frontbench in the Commons – and therefore the first glimpse of what someone who has been auditioning to be a minister is going to be like now she’s got the part.

Atkins was greeted with a huge cheer from her colleagues as she stood up to answer a question. She didn’t seem at all nervous, which you might expect from a former barrister specialising in fraud.