MONMOUTHSHIRE Conservative member David Davies, already a Welsh Assembly member, confessed his first experiences of Westminster left him overwhelmed.

He said: "It is quite a daunting place. When they took us into the chamber I couldn't help but be in complete awe.

"It's where the great orators like Winston Churchill, Clement Atlee and Michael Foot have spoken. It's natural to wonder how on earth you are going to live up to that."

Dashing from party induction sessions to media-handling classes at Portcullis House while being briefed on a typical MP's week have left the 32-year-old with a definite sense of being the "new boy" - as well as a flustered complexion.

He said: "It's very different here than at the Welsh Assembly. When I started there we were all new so I didn't really feel like a new boy. But here you do feel a little like a fish out of water."

But, he added: "Being an MP has long been something I've aspired to, but you never really see it as a possibility. Actually being here is truly humbling."