The cliché goes that a week is a long time in politics and it certainly was for me at the start of October. I began the week quietly as a transport minister and then came the reshuffle. This may be the Bonfire season but fireworks started early in London, with much of the press seemingly apoplectic about my elevation to No 2 at the Home Office under Theresa May. Journalists from the right wing, and what’s left of the Blairite lackeys, were spluttering in my direction.

Everything negative they could find was dug up and pasted together (and everything positive omitted), even if it was untrue or just general playground abuse. I watched with detached interest this somewhat hysterical behaviour. Why are they so angry? Could it be they don’t want a campaigning liberal in the Home Office?

Meanwhile, I was pleasantly taken aback to receive lots of congratulations, good wishes and messages of support from MPs from all corners of the Commons, including ones I barely know, and lots from constituents and general members of the public too. It was a curious week. I have not been able to reply to these personally, so perhaps I can say a big ‘thank you’ through this column. Actually, on the odd occasions when I have been under sustained national attack for something or other, my constituents have always given me their support, which has meant a lot to me.

The reshuffle had been on the cards (ho,ho) since July but had been delayed a couple of times by events, not least Syria. When it came, I received a phone call asking me to be in the Deputy Prime Minister’s office by noon, a physical impossibility given that the call was at 10:30am and I was still in Lewes that Monday morning, so a chat on the phone ensued, after which the Prime Minister rang to discuss the post and wish me well.

So it was up to the Department for Transport to clear my desk and thank the ever-so-helpful civil servants in my private office, and say farewells. By 5pm, I was over at the Home Office, meeting my new team, and having an initial discussion with the Secretary of State. The first few days were largely occupied by briefings with the need to get up to speed quickly with a whole new area of government. I had shadowed the Home Affairs portfolio before, but that was way back in 2001, so there was, and still is, a huge amount to learn. The first immediate challenge was having to lead on the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill in the Commons the following Monday, less than a week after my appointment. Now the next 18 months beckon.