MEL Stride, MP for the new Central Devon constituency, chose education as the theme of his maiden speech delivered in the House last Thursday.

The new seat is formed from parts of five others. It is, he said, one of the largest and most beautiful constituencies in the country, covering 550 square miles, including a large chunk of Dartmoor.

He paid tribute to his five predecessors. One of these, the former Teign bridge MP Richard Younger-Ross, he called a 'hard-working and assiduous local MP'.

Part of the seat is drawn from the old Totnes seat, whose MP Anthony Steen, was forced to stand down during the expenses scandal.

Mr Stride made no reference to that, instead calling him 'courteous' and 'marvellously eccentric'.

'He is a compassionate man who has done a great deal of good, not least through his work addressing the dreadful situation of human trafficking, and I am sure that he will be missed by the House.'

The seat was not without its challenges, said Mr Stride.

it is, he said a constituency where agriculture matters and where bovine TB continued to cause farmers untold misery. He said he was pleased the problem was receiving vigourous attention from the government.

He turned to the main meat of an at times impassioned speech: education.

He said he would press for a fairer deal for Devon's schoolchildren. Currently the county receives one of the lowest per capita schools grant in the country and is ranked 148 out of 151 local authorities.

Next to a loving family, he said the greatest gift any child can have is a good education. He welcomed the government announcement to put an extra £50 million into further education and an extra 50,000 apprenticeships.

'Education is the great highway of social mobility – for individuals to move on and up, in many cases escaping poverty and deprivation.'

Mr Stride said his parents left school and 15 and 14 and his success in gaining a place at a grammar school transformed his life.

He reserved his greatest praise for the 'reforming passion' of education secretary Michael Gove, and the push to allow parents to set up their own schools.

Choice would, he said, drive up standards and should not be left to the bureaucrats or planners but those who had most to gain.

'The government's radical agenda for education and skills will represent a vital journey – a true quest for equality, of a kind not that seeks to push down to some lowest common denominator, but that seeks to raise people up by providing choice and opportunity for every young person, irrespective of wealth, colour, race, creed or social background,' said Mr Stride.