Charlie was holding his notes in one hand, so thankfully his tendency to gesticulate was curtailed by half. As he continued with his speech, Holly felt a frisson of excitement; he was an articulate and confident speaker, and although she felt as though she knew the speech backwards, having heard Charlie practising it for days, there was something electrifying about hearing him actually speak at length in this most venerable of auditoriums. She could almost smell the aromas of wood polish and leather that she remembered so well from when she’d visited the Commons for Prime Minister’s Questions.

‘He’s good,’ Rachel said as she, too, seemed glued to the screen.

The custom was for other members of the house to interject, and for the keynote speaker to ‘give way’, and, sure enough, a few minutes into his speech, Charlie did just that for others to offer their perspectives and opinions. Charlie remained on his feet during these, and Holly found herself examining his expressions closely, watching every blink and frown as colleagues from both sides of the House spoke. Sometimes it was a brief, supportive point that was made, but sometimes they were more involved and intricate, and Holly began to realise that there was a real skill in both remembering your own arguments and responding coherently to others’ points on the floor, all under the twin gazes of the television cameras and the Speaker himself, who, Holly thought, seemed like the head teacher of a particularly rowdy school, and who had to keep order among the students.

As another of his colleagues gave way, Charlie continued with his speech. Holly knew he was roughly two thirds of the way through, and she found herself muttering along with him, willing him to the finish line. Just as he was nearing the closing paragraphs, a member from the opposite bench, seated a couple of rows behind Charlie, rose to his feet.

‘Will you give way?’ the Speaker asked.

Charlie glanced behind him in the direction of the new potential speaker, and for a moment there was a look in indecision on his face. ‘I will,’ he said, eventually, after a pause.

‘I am grateful to my honourable colleague for giving way.’ The voice, obsequious in tone, rang around the chamber with just a little undertone of sarcasm. ‘I would ask, at this point, if the Honourable Member for Willowbury and Stavenham is at all concerned that the adverse publicity generated by his own actions in this case might affect the government’s willingness to push forward with negotiations with the drug companies. After all, as a result of adverse media coverage of his very close association with one of the key figures in the campaign, it was very nearly derailed. Does he not feel as though his very presence in this debate will do more harm than good?’