Suddenly, for no obvious reason (!) politicians and their families are trumpeting their volunteering work. According to weekend newspapers, Sam Cam apparently does it and Andrew Mitchell’s children are paragons of international volunteering virtue.

It won’t be too long before all this spreads to East Devon. Watch for new and unusual combinations of local politicians and charities between now and May 2015 – with lots of photo- opportunities, particularly when bad news needs to be offset.

Those local politicians who have consistently worked hard for charities (Steve Gazzard of Exmouth for example springs to mind) would have good cause to feel just a little bit miffed.