ROBERT Buckland has been named MP Of The Year by a speech and language charity – and praised for his work as a Parliamentarian in an independent analysis of the 2010 intake.

The South Swindon MP was chosen for his vital work in raising awareness in Parliament over the Giving Voice campaign, which wants to “give voice” to people with speech, language and communication needs, to ensure their needs, and those of their carers and families, are met.

It aims to demonstrate how speech and language therapy makes a difference to individuals and the broader society across the UK.

“I am delighted to have been given this award but the real tribute should go to those dedicated professionals in the field who work so hard to treat people with disabilities,” Mr Buckland said.

“And I will continue raising these issues in Parliament and work closely with the Royal College of Speech and language Therapy and give it the prominence it deserves.”

In addition, Mr Buckland was ranked joint fourth in the top 10 ranked MPs entering Parliament in 2010 for their parlimentary activity.

The report by Public Affairs company Madano called “The Future Faces of British Politics? Quantifying the rising stars from the Class of 2010”,said rather than making a subjective selection of the new MPs, it set out to demonstrate that you can identify star MPs by applying quantitative metrics to evaluate the two key facets of modern politics – building media profile and leveraging Parliamentary influence.

The company tracked and weighted 17 different factors in media and Parliamentary activity, including media mentions, appearances on Question Time/Any Questions, rebel votes, Twitter followers, prior political influence and participation at party conference fringe events.

Mr Buckland was ranked joint forth in the top 10 MPs for Parliamentary activities section.

“It was interesting to see the study but I have not had a chance to read it yet as I have constituency work to be doing,” said Mr Buckland.

“I will continue to use Parliament as much as I can to raise local and national issues and I am enjoying the opportunity I have been given by voters in South Swindon to represent them on this national stage.”