It has been a surreal couple of days. On Friday morning we awoke to find a sprinkling of snow so, joy of joys, my school was closed for the day. My wife, however, had to go to work, as her primary school remained open. Many people express surprise that schools close during snow. It is a fundamental part of health and safety about getting kids to (and from) school. Plus, we now have the kind of compensation culture that means if kids slip in school and we’ve done nothing about the ice then the school is liable.

This extra time gave rise to playing on the computer and tormenting the kittens for an extra few hours before going to Daventry for a Conservative training weekend. Lovely hotel, but expensive bar. Training was good and have learnt a great deal about both my abilities as a candidate and what the party – and the electorate – expect of me.

Small world time – when I got up this morning who was the first person to meet but Sarah Macken, an old friend from UEA who was attending. I didn’t even know she was a party member but nice to have a chat about the “old times”. Seems so long ago, but that’s what happens when you reach 25!