A hard-hitting message from a very good South East Cambridgeshire friend

I don't go in for slagging opponents off, but I have received a hard-hitting message from a very good South East Cambridgeshire friend which raises a serious question and I quote the message verbatim:

"If he [Mr James Paice] was [re-]elected, chances are he would become the Minister of Agriculture in a new Conservative govt. How much time would he be able to devote to his constituents in that position? Very little. The best voice in parliament for the people of SE Cambs would be a no-strings-attached, dedicated and focused MP whose sole objective would be to represent SE Cambs in Westminster. A vote for Jim Paice would, arguably, be a vote for constituency neglect."

Mr Paice claims that he is a good constituency MP but even I have been very surprised by how few people ever mention his name to me on the doorsteps or in the streets of our constituency.

In the old days of Mr Francis Pym (later Lord Pym, pictured left with 'The Iron Lady'), I and others often found and/or knew constituents whom he had assisted, usually quietly and without fanfare.

Today? Next to nothing.

Funny? No, a bit peculiar and not a little worrying, actually.