Amanda Milling, chairwoman of the Conservative party, is wincing at the memory of being a government whip at the height of last year’s parliamentary paralysis over Brexit.
I am happily married to Lorna and have two grown-up daughters. After serving 24 years in the Army (Scots Guards), I moved back to Lancashire, and after short spells in security and facilities management, I took a position in the office of Ben Wallace, whom I had served with in the Army.