Here I am signing books provided by Walkers Bookshops, an independent bookseller with shops in Stamford and Oakham.
My ‘Evening With’ event is at the Corn Exchange in Stamford, a lovely town preserved in it’s Regency splendour. It’s also the hometown of Bron Madson, my Press Secretary in 5 different government departments. Carolyn and I have a drink with Bron and her partner Andy before the show.

Bron was a formidable exponent of the dark arts in dealing with the media and now works for the local authority that covers Grantham. I mention in passing that this quiet town has had a deselected MP and huge controversy concerning the placing of a statue of Margaret Thatcher since their new Head of Comms arrived!

This is a lovely part of the world. Andrew Wilson, my interviewer, like us is booked into a hotel overlooking Rutland Water. It’s the first time any of us has spent a night in Britain’s smallest county.