Within politics, there are lots of under-appreciated groups. People who work tirelessly to ensure that the roadshow goes on, so that those front and centre can walk, run and sprint to victory. Be it the campaign organisers and their hoardes of volunteers pushing paper through letterboxes, or the tech people running important communication methods, or the spouses, partners and confidantes who prop up tired candidates ready to fall. 

Yet I want to throw my own special shout-out to another group, the MPs’ staff. I’m very privileged to have worked in one capacity or another for a number of our party’s  illustrious MPs in  both campaigns and as parliamentary staff. This is not a shout-out to me, or a self-congratulating pat on the back though. I want to pay tribute to the new Office Managers, Caseworkers, Personal Assistants and Media Officers who are now filling the offices of our newly-elected MPs. 

I am lucky that when I started in this job, there was already a set way of working that I could adapt to, and could adapt to me. Yet since the election, 57 new office managers have been hired to get MPs on their feet. Bravely taking over single-handedly where campaigns left off. They’ve been the ones wrestling with the leviathan of MPs’ inboxes, hiring staff, finding new office spaces, helping their bosses find new London accommodation, wandering lonely through the IPSA labyrinth of expenses. 

I am fortunate to help to co-ordinate (yet another) WhatsApp community bringing together caseworkers and office managers, and the battles they’ve faced to establish new MPs in their communities quickly, quietly and efficiently should be very strongly applauded. 

To give you a peek under the cover, this week I have seen questions from the new managers about setting up leave charts, paper deliveries onto the estate, office rental lease agreements, finding lines on obscure political subjects, what any number of obscure party and parliamentary acronyms mean, budget management, furniture acquisition, surgery security and probably many more that have passed without my attention. They are expected to become experts in all, all for that one laudable and admirable goal, making sure that our MPs can do their jobs, make their speeches, and vote accordingly. 

And standing behind them are a group of experienced office staff of our previously elected fifteen. People who don’t get paid to help, and get no extra reward for doing so, but who have steadfastly stood in solidarity with their new colleagues, making sure they have the resources, help and assistance they didn’t get. They have kindly answered questions at all times of day and night, searched through inboxes for documents and policies, and did it all with a good sense of humour.

So here’s to the MP staff, and the mountain they are climbing. Go thank an office manager and their staff today. It’s not too late.

* Andrew Emmerson is a Liberal Democrat member based in Shetland.