For the second year in a row Education Secretary Justine Greening has been named overall MP of the year in recognition of her work with deprived, minority and under-represented communities.

The award was presented by the Patchwork Foundation and recognises the work Ms Greening has done with local community organisations such as Regenerate, the National Autistic Society and Arts4Dementia. She has been recognised before having won Conservative MP of the Year in 2015. In 2014 she was runner up for the same award. Commenting on the award Ms Greening said “I am honoured to have won the MP of the Year Award. The Patchwork Foundation does a fantastic job of getting young people involved in our democracy and political process, with its workshops and mentoring. That's all vital if we're going to have a political system that works for everyone and is inclusive. It’s been great to be involved as an MP and locally I do my best to work with our whole community on the issues that matter to all of us.”  

Admiration from the Prime Minister
The Prime Minister Theresa May shared her admiration, “I would like to congratulate the winners of tonight’s awards - MPs who are willing to go the extra mile to make politics accessible, relevant and open to all. I would like to congratulate Justine for winning the Overall MP of the Year Award. My driving mission in politics is to make this a country that works for everyone – where you can rise to the top no matter who you are and where you are from. At the moment, there are too many professions where those from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds are underrepresented. Although we have made huge strides, politics is still one of those professions. We need to change that.”  

The award ceremony was sponsored by KPMG at Speakers House on Wednesday 2^nd November 2016. Siddiq Musa, KPMG Partner said: "We are delighted to sponsor these Patchwork Awards for the third year encouraging under represented communities to connect with the political process and celebrating those MPs from across the political divide who have really made a difference to inclusion. The work done by their volunteers and the time they commit will hopefully inspire young people in all communities to fulfil their true potential.”  

The Patchwork Foundation launched the MP of the Year Awards 2014 in association with Mosaic Associates, the Three Faiths Forum, UpRising and the National Union of Students earlier this year. The Foundation aims to promote and encourage the positive integration of under-represented, deprived and minority communities into British Political society.