I can’t remember the last time I went out delivering Focus when it was so cold. Can it really have been the Ipswich by-election when I definitely recall leafleting in the snow?

The thermometer on my car hasn’t read much over 0 all day. Taking leaflets around Meadow Brown Road the little pond (under the control boxes) had a skim of ice over it, and every bit of shallower puddle was frozen solid.

I was kitted out as much as I could be – coat, scarf, hat, and fingerless gloves that both keep me warm and but still let me have enough dexterity to separate out the leaflets. But it was still perishing, and I was glad to get home.