Like many, many people across the West Midlands the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games just blew me away.

It was quite simply phenomenal. I was so proud of the important messages it conveyed about Birmingham and the wider region. It was big on our inclusivity and what a brilliant melting pot we are of cultures. I was proud of the integration of para-sport into the main games too but mainly I was super proud as a born and bred West Midlander that it was all about our home – a place that made the industrial world and a place that doesn’t like to show off too much but is now rightly in the limelight.

These are our home games and I know people in Stourbridge are right behind them as we sit in the world’s shop window for a few weeks.

But we must also think of the future and the legacy of the games is important for our region. We must not let this substantial investment in the second city be lost. Now is the time to grasp future opportunities to host major events or be part of them in the years to come using the experience and investment from these games as our starting point. This is a way to level up and invest and I hope to see initiatives to keep this Commonwealth Games flame metaphorically alive in our region for years to come.

Of course, we then had the Lionesses, they dreamt big and they only went and did it, after 56 years, football came home. They really are history makers, game makers and outstanding team players.

I have not publicly declared my support for any candidate in the conservative leadership contest. as I now work in the Government's Whips Office and we have agreed not to publicly campaign, but who I will support will come as no surprise.

I will support someone who believes in low taxes and growth to create jobs, increase wages, and ultimately generate more tax revenue to fund public services.

Low taxes and low regulation are an essential pre-condition for growth. We cannot wait for growth and then lower taxes afterwards. If we do that, growth will never come. Someone who will stand up to Russia and China and invest in the armed forces. Some who will rid us of EU red tape thereby unlocking the opportunities of leaving the EU to turbocharge the UK economy by fully diverging from EU rules and regulations.

Integrity and loyalty too are fundamental prerequisites.

Whoever is elected as the next leader of the party will have my dedicated support and loyalty.