A full house heard a fascinating talk from Lady Christine Heald on Sunday. By kind permission of Phillida and David, the historic home of Plait Hall was the venue.

Christine spoke about her life as the wife of a candidate, and MP and a  Minister, obviously Sir Oliver!

From very early days over 40 years ago to moving to Royston before Oliver was elected, she outlined how important the partner is to an MP. Not just being supportive but also replacing them when they are absent or helping deal with any issues that constituents may have .

Talking about the pressures of a 24/7 lifestyle on a family, Christine was proud of the way her 3 children had coped with long absences and late nights working.

She added that whilst email made communication much easier, she regretted that these days it had lead to a lot more anonymous abuse online, and dealing with the 300 emails per day they received Sir Oliver responded with his thanks to Christine for all her support and said he could never have done it without her.

He went on to outline that he thought that sometime soon, a form of deal would be done by the Prime Minister which would get the support of the House of Commons. He hoped it would happen as the Country needed to get back to normal and start working on life after Brexit.

Christine and Oliver were thanked by Arbury Chairman Sara Mathews for a fascinating and moving insight into the private lives of MPs and their partners.