This week, I’ve had the joys of moving house (only to another part of Salisbury, to disappoint those hoping this might mean the last of these columns). But before I get on to house-moving, a little bit of housekeeping regarding some of the responses to my column about the John Glen’s re-election.

One letter by Ian Curr, local LibDem secretary was longer than the initial column itself, but in summary he disagreed with my analysis, arguing that ‘In Salisbury … time after time, in elections local and national, it is the LibDems who are the credible opposition to the Tories.’ There’s possibly just a touch of Mandy Rice-Davies in Ian’s reply. If that is the case, then how come Labour won the subsequent by-election for the St Francis and Stratford ward – the LibDems again finishing third – making them the largest party on the council? 

Ian’s letter also accused me of partisanship. He’s welcome to disagree with my assessment, but I try to approach this column as an independent observer. Over my many years in Salisbury, I have voted Labour, Green, Independent and – yes – even LibDem in previous elections. If the polls showed the LibDems were the ‘credible’ challengers in Salisbury at this election, I would have said so in my column and probably voted for them myself. But I would never presume to tell anyone how to vote: the readers of this newspaper are smart enough to make up their own minds.

John Glen also came back on my question as to whether he would rule out any secondary paid roles during this parliament. Second jobs for former ministers is, for me, a scourge of modern politics. If you’re elected to parliament, you should be there to serve your constituents. It’s an issue for all the main parties: it also happened after Labour last left power in 2010 and even Ian Curr’s bungee-jumping leader has found time for paid consultancy work in the past. So I’m pleased that John Glen has put on record he has ruled that out.

All of which leaves me slightly less space than intended to write about the joys of moving house. It’s one of those life experiences that you try and numb yourself to. The previous top floor flat I was living in had great views over Victoria Park and Old Sarum, but I was quickly cursing all those flights of stairs as I carried box after box down.

Salisbury is a wonderful place to live, a fact I was reminded of by getting to know our new neighbours, who’ve all been friendly and welcoming. If only the connection was as good for our (still uninstalled) Internet: an unwelcome housewarming present from Richard Branson!