My husband’s parents were two of the most wonderful people I have ever met. My mother-in-law Joan was born in North Shields and retained a soft Geordie accent all her life. From a working-class home, she joined the civil service in London as a secretary, then moved back up north where she met Albert. They were committed Methodists, and through their Christian faith they got involved in politics. Albert, who had left school at 13, became a Labour MP and a Cabinet minister; Joan was his private secretary. When Albert lost his seat in the 1983 general election after 17 years, he worked in public transport, but Joan continued to work in the Commons as secretary to David Blunkett and then Betty Boothroyd.

Albert and Joan had had interesting working lives, but they never boasted about them. When I met them, they were retired, but busy working as school governors, going on soup runs for the homeless, organising lunches at their church for lonely elderly people and running a fair trade stall. When my babies were small, they were the ones who cooked for us and babysat every week so we could have a break.