PARKED up by the river in Henley last Friday evening, I took a call from the prime minister telling me that my services as the Minister for Culture and the digital economy were no longer required. I would have been happy to have carried on, but given her need to make changes, I was half-expecting the outcome.

I first took up the role in opposition, in November 2006, so I had almost completed a decade covering the brief. It’s a job I thoroughly enjoyed, and I intend to continue to take an interest as a backbencher.

As arts minister, I had to cope with the cuts that hit almost every department, but they were mitigated by the significant increase in lottery funding we introduced. I created music hubs, published the first white paper on the arts in half a century, and secured a huge cash injection for English heritage to help improve hundreds of heritage sites.

I also oversaw the creative industries – film, TV, video games and many other areas. The introduction of tax breaks has driven their success, and they have grown three times faster than the economy as a whole. Finally, there was the roll out of broadband, and as I leave I am proud that around five million homes now have access to superfast broadband thanks to the programme I introduced.

Change is unsettling but also exciting, and there will be new opportunities. As a minister I couldn’t take part in parliamentary debates which weren’t in my policy area. Now I can apply for debates that cover issues that affect my constituents locally and nationally, and question ministers on specific areas. I can spend more time in the constituency, as I have done in recent days hearing the concerns of scientists and businesses about Brexit.

I’m delighted to have had the chance to have been a minister, but more delighted to carry on with my main job of representing my constituency. There’s another silver lining – my fabulous colleague Nicola Blackwood is now a Minister in the Department of Health – so Oxfordshire maintains its representation in government.