“But I’m going to the Bahamas on the 21st, so I want it by then.”"But Stacey,” Paul’s voice trembles with the horror of one already working nights three times a week, “I’ve got that presentation for Anil that’s due on the 23rd.”"Well,” says Stacey. I probably wouldn’t have had the time or energy: 12-hour days take it out of you. How this state of affairs came about is probably most easily explained by a conversation I overheard with my beady little ears last week. I went like this:
Stacey, brand manager, stalks across the floor and halts in front of Paul, junior executive: “Paul.”"Yes, Stacey,” says Paul.”That Marshalsea report.”"Yes, Stacey,” says Paul “It’s all in hand.”"Good,” says Stacey. IT’S BEEN a good week for money and a bad one for my social life. The money I’m glad of, as I would have to emigrate to Saudi Arabia if I wanted to earn a crust to over the Great Shutdown The social life – well.

I don’t really enjoy polite conversation, I can’t afford to be dog- sick hungover with this workload, and anyway, no one ever asks you to their office party when you’re a temp – not even firms you’ve worked for on and off for years. For the moment I say well done, good luck and work hard in the Labour Party to secure the trust and confidence it is surely ready to give you.The author has been MP for Leominster, Herefordshire, since 1974. He defected from the Conservative Party in November 1997 and, after six months as an independent, joined the Labour Party in June 1998. But again Shaun will have to take care particularly in a Tory county constituency Many ageing county Tories are essentially apolitical. They are born conservatives, die conservatives, believe what they read in The Daily Telegraph, and expect their politicians to defend their often privileged middle class interests. The genuine grandees are fine, but watch out for the retired majors and colonels.Enough for the moment Doubtless I will be talking to Shaun before long. When I telephoned, offering to withdraw, I was told in no uncertain terms that I was welcome – I suspected, with cause – more welcome than before.

The coalition that elected Labour in 1997 was quite phenomenal in its breadth.It is greatly to the credit of Tony Blair that class-based politics are fading out as a thing of the past. This reaction is typical of what now passes for a Conservative but is symptomatic of the rump the party has become. By the same token people in the real world out there have forsaken this party. When I joined the Labour Party I was due at a charity function two days later as a guest of a major City bank. The Conservative Party’s reaction to his defection could hardly have been nastier. Gone is any pretence to the style and grace of the old party. In recent years a whole range of defectors from Reg Prentice, to David Owen and the SDP, to Alan Howarth and beyond, have all remained sitting MPs for the duration of the parliament.The demands will subside as Shaun continues to represent all the people of his constituency in the best British tradition.