So the plan was to generate some atmosphere by recording the next few podcasts in the pub. There’s no MPs around, there’s no MPs in fact – technically they all lost their job when parliament was dissolved. So I hoped to gather together a brains trust each week to mull over events on the election trail.

The plan kind of worked. Jon Walker, friend and colleague and political editor of the Birmingham Post and Birmingham Mail got on board and Matt Withers, a witty and erudite chap who I knew when he was a Lib Dem press officer and who has since gone on to greater things, responded to my Twitter invite for guests.

The brains trust was in place, we met in The Dartmouth Arms, Forest Hill, one of my favourite hostelries.

Unfortunately two things went a little awry. First, because it’s a good pub The Dartmouth Arms was busy and so there was quite a lot of background noise on the podcast. That wouldn’t have been such a problem had I remembered to check that the Yeti mic (that’s actually what it’s called, google it if you don’t believe me) was connected before I started the recording. That’s the trouble with recording in pubs. There’s beer involved. I did spot the problem halfway through the recording and with some judicious editing I managed to pull a decent episode together. As long as you don’t mind hearing anecdotes about Tim Farron told by a man who sounds like he’s on an old mobile phone, and underwater.

No matter the standard of the sound, quality will out so there’s some excellent anecdotes about meeting a senior politician at the darts and two vital questions are answered: Who is the biggest diddy of the election campaign so far, and do hipsters have pets?

Oh and I got a new logo.

Listen here: