Seeing as Frances Cross, the MP’s wife, is a principal character in ‘Burying Bad News’ it was quite nice to bump into Helen, my local MP’s wife briefly at the weekend. I don’t know her particularly well but certainly well enough to say hello to and have a chat. I know David, her\u00c2\u00a0husband and a shadow minister, slightly less well but I’ve met him on quite a few occasions and enough to say hello. (For the sake of their confidence I won’t\u00c2\u00a0say exactly where or in what circumstances I met her\u00c2\u00a0or even how I know them but it’s not in an overtly political context). Unlike Frances, Helen is a completely approachable, friendly and level headed person as is her husband, who’s\u00c2\u00a0pretty likely to\u00c2\u00a0become a minister should the Conservatives win in May.<\/p>\n
I’ve also met quite a few other MPs and Ministers.\u00c2\u00a0I used to live in Vince Cable’s constituency and once took a deputation of neighbours to his surgery (an experience that I allude to in a chapter\u00c2\u00a0of BBN). Phil Woolas<\/a>, who’s Minister of Immigration, came to my mother in law’s birthday party a couple of years ago and I had quite a chat with him. My mother-in-law used to have a photo\u00c2\u00a0taken of herself with Tony Blair every year at the Labour Party\u00c2\u00a0conference. She’s not\u00c2\u00a0managed it so far with\u00c2\u00a0Gordon. I told her before last year’s conference that she’d better be quick in getting one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Seeing as Frances Cross, the MP’s wife, is a principal character in ‘Burying Bad News’ it was quite nice to bump into Helen, my local MP’s wife briefly at the weekend. I don’t know her particularly well but certainly well enough to say hello to and have a chat. I know David, her\u00c2\u00a0husband and a … <\/p>\n