My staff are the backbone of my office. They process hundreds of letters each week. They prepare my diary, my website, my publications. They carry out research, talk to constituents with problems, liaise with ministries, councils and other bodies that affect people’s lives. They are my eyes, ears and arms - hardworking, loyal and conscientious.

The needs of 70,000 electors, over 25,000 of whom have contacted me over the years, cannot be addressed on a shoestring. Ten years ago the parliamentary office allowance (often erroneously called my “expenses”) did not even run to two full time staff. Today I have one full time employee based in Buxton, with four part time posts. Like any small employer, an MP is not obliged to advertise job vacancies on the open market, although I usually do.

My wife Teresa also works part time for me, mostly in London. She has done so since day one, she understands the long hours, sometimes stressful situations and the huge variety of my work. She is a competent, capable and experienced office worker: a classic example of why so many MPs find that their partner is the best person to act as a parliamentary assistant.

I get work-related travel paid for and also the unavoidable costs of living in both Buxton and London. Such expenses are comparable to those of business and subject to strict rules. Staff contracts and pay scales are tightly scrutinized by Parliament’s finance department. Salaries and most suppliers are paid directly by Parliament and not by me.

The days are gone when the MP would make an annual visit to the constituency; almost gone are the MPs who give casework a low priority. Gone too are the days when an MP's partner was just a volunteer.

I believe that we deliver a better service to our constituents now than generations of parliamentarians before us were able to do.