They are fair game for everything that goes wrong and rarely given credit when things get better. The interesting thing is polling on MPs. As a group, they are disliked but asked about their own MP, voters tend to be supportive, believing they do a good job.

So why do MPs get such criticism? I’ll answer it by reference to a particular hobbyhorse of mine, those who talk the talk but never walk the walk.

It may be an old-fashioned approach, but I believe in not asking others to do something I haven’t or wouldn’t do myself. I use this as a yardstick for judging politicians too – regardless of the party they represent.

So, imagine my disgust, yes, it’s a strong word, at a recent revelation concerning a former Energy Secretary. In the summer of 2023, faced with the introduction of the Clean Heat Market Mechanism, I met with this Energy Secretary leading a delegation from a northern boiler manufacturer and their local MPs. He had just made the commitment to fit a heat pump in his home. He wanted to walk the walk, at the same time as urging UK households to do the same.

Imagine my feelings last week when the same, now former Energy Secretary and former MP, confessed that two years later he still does not have one fitted. Apparently, he claims his house is solid wall in construction; not well insulated and therefore not suitable for a heat pump. He also said the price of electricity is too high compared to gas to make the switch sensible for him.

But what about everyone else? Is it only his property in the whole UK that has those characteristics? Is he the only one facing a ‘spark gap’ of four? Or has he been found out as the type of politician who will say what is convenient at the time, with no intention of actually doing what he so publicly promised? Personal hobbyhorse or point of principle, you can decide.