I have previously written on Conservative Home about the quirks of being one of the Party’s few inner city MPs. This was in relation to immigration casework.
Another feature is how immigrants from particular countries or regions seek to lobby their MP to inquire into British foreign policy in relation to their country or cause, and especially to seek to change that foreign policy. I have the second highest proportion of foreign born people of any MP in Britain, and this is a regular feature of constituency casework. The most frequent lobbyers are those in relation to Ethiopia/ Somalia, Cyprus, Kashmir, Kosovo, Sri Lanka and so on.
Some commentators at the last election made the point that with Muslim voters defecting from Labour to the LibDems in reaction to the Iraq War, this showed for the first time how UK foreign policy was having an effect on domestic politics.
It may not be the first time, but it is not, in my view, a happy development. British foreign policy should be decided in the interests of the whole country, not one sectional 
group. In fact, it shouldn’t even be necessary to say this, yet some developments in the contrary direction trouble me.
Take this one – when Gordon Brown took over last summer, he issued on the Number 10 website a list of the members of his government. Scroll right to the bottom of the list – the penultimate member of a seemingly endless list of MPs and Lords in the Government – is listed one Joan Ryan, the MP for Enfield North and previously a rather hapless Home Office minister. She has become the "Special Representative to Cyprus".
Many countries, or supranational bodies like the EU and the UN, have special representatives to individual countries and regions, but this one is a little different. It happens that Joan Ryan has a majority of just under 2,000 votes. It also happens that a large number of her constituents are of Cypriot origin. She has no known foreign policy experience, background or expertise. In fact, she is an altogether unlikely special envoy.
Joan Ryan does, however, have a record of declaring interests in relation to her links with Cyprus. Check out her declaration of interests.
But the point of this article is not to suggest wrongdoing on her part. The answers to Parliamentary questions I have tabled lead me to believe that her primary role is not to be an envoy to Cyprus, but to have the title to enable her to better pander to her constituents of Cypriot origin in Enfield North. The Government tells us that she is "responsible for developing and strengthening links between the Government and the British Cypriot community. Her role is to work with the Cypriot diaspora and explore how they can help to promote a settlement in Cyprus. She acts as an additional channel of communication between British Cypriots and Ministers."
She has made one visit to Cyprus itself so far, to be fair, but the Government in its answers is quite clear that her primary role is domestic. I have tabled further questions, but I expect that a large number of her meetings with the "Cypriot diaspora" happen to be with her own constituents. This appears to be happening at public expense.
I wonder how many more "special envoys" we will see before the election comes. I know Labour MPs who have "constituency" interests for example on both sides of the conflict in Sri Lanka, depending on whether they have Singhalese or Tamil constituents - call me cynical, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see "special envoys" appointed to both the Singhalese and Tamil communities in the UK in an effort to boost two Labour MPs in marginal seats.
Returning to Joan Ryan, promoting a lasting solution in Cyprus is a noble thing, but being funded by the taxpayer as an official Government envoy to your own constituents in a desperate attempt to secure your own re-election is anything but noble.
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