In the late 1980s I worked in television news. I started off as a temp and well, just stayed, which was ironic as I’d never been very interested in news or current affairs. (I much preferred making things up, or reading books about things other people had made up.)

Anyway, throughout my time working in news, I realised contempt for most politicians. Why? Because they all promised things they rarely delivered on. When asked questions, they rarely, if ever, gave a direct answer. They refused to take accountability for mistakes. (“Mistakes were made” if pushed, never, “I made a mistake but will do my best to make amends”.)

Basically, I learned not to trust politicians.

My partner is avidly into politics, and when Labour were voted in, he, like many people, was full of High Hopes. I wasn’t, I’m afraid. I sat back and waited for the same old lies to be trotted out. Although in this instance, I find it almost amusing what a complete disaster has unfolded, week after week, but we won’t go into that.

However, a month or so ago, I heard the Perran Moon (Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth) speaking to other MPs about his experiences of his daughter’s anorexia and how it was impossible to get help. (The link is here - it’s a tough watch, but makes you realise how little help is available, which is truly shocking.)

I so feel for him and his entire family, so I wrote to him asking if he would like a copy of Hunger http://bit.ly/4i3j8ZJ. As it is an uplifting read, but does shed light into the mindset of someone with an eating disorder, and also focuses on the positives - regaining confidence and the importance of friends - I felt it might help him.

No reply, but as I started following him on social media, I realised this man is BUSY. He works so hard for his constituency, which is probably the poorest area of Cornwall. No holiday lets here, but unemployment, homelessness, a lot of associated mental health problems to do with alcohol and drugs. A tough one. But he never stops trying to help his constituents.

I forgot all about my email, and then this week I received an email from his Office Manager, saying, “Perran would love to read your book, but would like to buy a copy. Is it available in any local bookstores? If not, I will send him the Amazon link.”

Well, that completely changed my opinion of politicians. Not only does he not want a freebie, but he would like to buy a copy locally rather than through Amazon. Brownie points all round! And, of course, Hunger goes off to a family desperately in need of help, by the sound of it, which is why I wrote it in the first place. Let’s hope it offers some comfort.

By the way, I told him that Hunger is for sale in the Falmouth Bookseller - so if you need a page turning, uplifting read for Christmas, head over to Falmouth for a good browse. If you can’t get there, the Amazon link is http://bit.ly/4i3j8ZJ