Campaign Diary: Day 21 - in which life intervenes in the campaign

I'm a busy person, so I tend to plan things in advance where I can, part of Ros's influence on me, especially when travel is concerned. And, having to go to London for a meeting seemed like an excellent opportunity to renew my passport too. When I had made the arrangements, the prospect of a by-election was not on the horizon.

And so, I had booked an appointment at the Passport Agency in London using its online facility, and was resigned to writing off the day. It was, at least, an opportunity to draw breath before the final run-in to polling day, now just eight days away. Besides, everything seemed to be in hand.

My journey to London was uneventful, and I reached the Passport Agency office behind Victoria Station in good time for my appointment. I had some surprisingly good passport photographs (I'm not keen on being at that end of a lens), and the correct pen to fill in the form - black ballpoint. I used the time to fill in the form before heading inside to wait in a long queue for security.

It wasn't so bad. I made conversation with the man in the queue next to me, and before very long, I was safely screened and in a seat waiting for my turn. Whilst the waiting area is a bit institutional, you aren't there very long, and I was soon called to a desk where I handed over the form, the photographs and my old passport.

It was all very efficient and, five minutes later, I had a receipt to be retained, and instructions to return in just over four hours to collect my new passport. Time for lunch...

I had arranged with Ros to meet her at a place called "The Loose Box" on Horseferry Road, a gentle quarter of an hour walk away, so I set off across Vauxhall Bridge Road, along one side of Vincent Square and past the Westminster Cathedral Choir School building. I forget what an oasis Vincent Square is, with cricket played in the middle during the summer.

Lunch was pretty good - I had the pork belly with mustard mash. Not great for the diet, but I reckon that it can stand the odd day off, especially given the number of steps I'm covering each day.

I walked Ros back to Parliament and set off back towards Victoria for my assigned collection slot, stopping on the way to do a little shopping (I need trousers as my waistline is shrinking), picked up the new passport and set off back to Liverpool Street for my train home.

A week to go and much to do still...