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As I have mentioned in previous columns I often write them on my Thursday evening journey from King’s Cross back to the constituency but on this occasion I’m on a different journey. The All-Party Rail Group that I chair is returning from a visit and I’m sharing the journey with a Labour shadow minister, and three Labour members of the House of Lords and it has caused me to reflect on the differing perceptions voters have of political parties and those who represent them. One of my travelling companions can trace his hereditary title back to the 15th century. We've heard about the problems faced by a previous generation of his family maintaining their castle and how they had to dispose of some of the country estate in order to do so. This weekend he was hoping to get out on his boat, Oh, and of course he went to Eton.

Though this may not be typical of Labour supporting families, certainly in Cleethorpes, I’m sure that had I described it without mentioning the party label many readers would jump to the conclusion that it was ‘typical Tory.’ It does nevertheless provide an interesting contrast to my own background and that of the vast majority of Conservative supporters. As a child I spent my early years in a terrace house in Fuller Street until my parents were allocated a council house in Grimsby. This though is much more typical of the average Tory voter – it has to be since there could never be a Conservative government without the support of the ‘working-class.’ This is particularly interesting in the week of Margaret Thatcher’s death. As has been made clear by the comments from the more thoughtful of her political opponents she changed the political landscape. Whether or not you admire, regret she was ever in power, or perhaps even despise her it is a fact that she did indeed change not only the Conservative Party but the Labour Party as well and her influence is still being felt across the political spectrum.

The politicians that I most admire are those that achieve real change; to do so at any level is extremely difficult; not only is the 'system' against you but, more often than not, a large part of your own party will be opposed.

Generally speaking, despite always critical of those that hold power, we don’t like change and one of the important functions of the political process is to do just that – manage change. The world is much more complex than ever before and change is coming ever faster. I suspect that this is one of the reasons politicians are much out of favour at the moment – the faster change comes the more difficult it is to manage.

But returning to my opening theme of ‘class and politics’ what Lady Thatcher achieved above all else was to broaden even further the Conservative Party's appeal to include more of the aspiring working classes. After eighteen years of Tory government many transferred their loyalty to Tony Blair’s Labour Party and, remember he even had to change the Party’s name to show how it had broken with its past and was prepared to take forward the 'Thatcher Revolution.'

It is undeniable that the Thatcher governments presided over a period of massive change much of which was particularly painful for those parts of the country that were reliant on heavy industry such as steel, shipbuilding, car production and of course mining. The problem was that what could and should have been a period of more gradual change had to be compressed into a much shorter time. That's because a series of weak governments had ducked the issues making the whole process more painful.

What is undoubtedly true is not just that she showed such determination to restore Britain's place in the world but that the great majority of the British people recognised that it was necessary and stuck with successive Tory governments. It's equally noticeable today that the vast majority recognise that, though the medicine is horrible we have to fight once again to balance the nation's books.

Returning again to my travelling companions. One of the great plus factors about the current crop of Tory MPs elected in 2010, particularly those elected to represent northern constituencies, is that they are from the areas they represent. Compare their CVs with many Labour MPs and you might be surprised. Not the country estate for us but the average semi. Good luck to the Labour lords and the Tory ones for that matter but I'm happy to be a 'working-class Tory.'