My PA has set up two interviews with students. I get many requests from students to come and question me on a variety of issues for their theses.

Student No 1 is just a lovely guy. He, yes he, is doing his dissertation on gender in politics and barriers to women etc. As Easter week is a relatively quiet week, I give him an hour or so and totally enjoy a ramble through the issues.

He tells me he is the only male student on his course and when he chose women and politics as his subject all his classmates (the girls) were totally supportive – but all his boy mates looked at him as if he were mad! But I reckon from listening to him that he will produce a really good piece of work. He showed a lot of understanding – not only about the subject – but on wider issues onto which we strayed.

Student No 2 was doing a PHD on branding in the Liberal Democrats. I answered his questions as best I could – but it was a far more ‘academic’ study and much more controlled. As a corporate design strategist in my earlier life for 20 years – I probably know as much as anyone about branding – which may or may not have been a good thing!

Good luck to both of them.