A shuffle back in time

I've just returned from a fun, surreal and nostalgic lunch with my old boss, former Northern Ireland First Minister David - now Lord - Trimble.

Although I stopped working for David and the Ulster Unionists back in 2003, I have kept in relatively close touch with him and we meet up from time to time.

Like me, he has joined the Conservatives although his role in the Upper House of the Mother of Parliaments is slightly more pivotal to the Party's fortunes than mine in Bradford City Hall.

He is here all week with his wife Daphne who continues to be one of the nicest and most charming individuals I have met in politics. But as the picture shows, David has had a bit of an accident - he fell off his canal boat in Warwickshire.

As a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, he was a prime target for the IRA during the darkest days of the Northern Ireland Troubles. But whilst they thankfully failed to cause him any physical damage, his wooden water chugger very much did.

And the Tory faithful clearly share his pain. Just like in the old days when I used to accompany him to these events, he was stopped at every turn, as we headed to the coffee bar, by people wanting to shake his hand, ask how he was, get an autograph or have a picture taken with him.

He was then grabbed by Michael Crick, the Political Editor of BBC Newsnight, to do a television interview for tonight's programme - captured above.

And by the time he eventually reached our table, it wasn't just Daphne and me there but also Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve and Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Patterson. Both will be key figures in a Cameron Government should the Conservatives be elected, and both wanted to hear David's thoughts on the world.

And like any politician worth his salt, he was only too happy to provide them.

It really was a true rewinding of the clock for me personally, and it was wonderful to be back there, albeit briefly.