It's been a slightly unusual day on Planet Bureaucrat...

A few seconds of unexpected fame...

Today saw the Aviva Women's Tour cycle race come through Suffolk, as Stage 1 took the riders from Bury St Edmunds to Aldeburgh. What I hadn't factored for that I would get such a great view from my office window, as the race swirled down Museum Street, then took a rather awkward little right-hander into Princes Street before turning left again at the crossroads below the office.

I was lucky enough to get a good picture with my iPhone, and posted it on Twitter. Within a few minutes, I received a request from the BBC to use the picture and, ten minutes later, there it was, with the text of my tweet, and a photo credit, on the BBC Suffolk website. For the record, I did not receive, nor did I seek, payment for the material...

By mid-afternoon, I was on a train to London, in order to perform my duty as Returning Officer for our Parliamentary Party in the House of Lords. In truth, it isn't terribly complex, with an electorate of exactly one hundred, and there were three candidates for two positions, making my task a pretty straightforward one, but it is nice to be asked, and I like both Ros's colleagues and the team in the Whips Office. Oh, and yes, I did not receive, nor did I seek, payment for my services...

As has already been published elsewhere, Navnit Dholakia and Kate Parminter were the successful candidates, bringing both talent and diversity to our leadership in the Lords. And the fact that Navnit gave me an excellent character reference when I first started seeing Ros makes no difference to how I see him! Kate worked with Ros on the EU Select Sub-Committee D, and has real passion. So, given the quality on our red benches, no pressure on our team on the green ones, I suppose.

I made the 20.00 train home, which was a bonus, as it allowed me to start work on a presentation I have to give on Saturday. There is, it seems, no rest for the bureaucrat...