You know you're getting old when the Speaker of the House of Commons used to work for you.
I have known John Bercow since 1988 and as I reminded him when he was first elected to the Commons I have a very good filing system covering the four and a half years we worked together!
Many congratulations to John whose politics then were several miles to the right of where they are now. I recall - shortly after his selection for his seat in 1996 - arriving with him in a Westminster restaurant where the current Leader of the Opposition was already ensconced. On seeing John he became jocularly grumpy about the kind of people who were getting selected for winnable seats. Actually, his words were unprintable. John of course was elected in 1997, but David Cameron had to switch seats to get elected in 2001, as the Stafford seat which had traditionally been Tory he managed to lose in the 1997 Labour landslide.
John courageously defied the Conservative whip in 2002 and has become a much more centrist figure since.
I can confirm what both the Prime Minister and Leader of the Oppossition said about his tennis ability having played tennis with him once. Well, he played tennis. I managed to hit the ball occasionally.
There are more stories and no doubt friends will remind me of others.
His election is a breath of fresh air for the Commons and good luck to him.
