“I am a heavyweight political player who is using my journalistic weight and in-depth knowledge of the English property sales system to reform inadequate legislation.” Such was the mantra I repeated to myself as I bicycled from my office in Kensington, London, to Portcullis House, Westminster, for my meeting with the shadow housing secretary’s number two. The purpose: to revise the way home selling is carried out in England, ensuring both parties are accountable for either gazumping or pulling out for no justifiable reason if an offer has been accepted.

I felt rather official as I passed through security, had my photograph taken and was given a visitor’s badge with my slightly bewildered image on it – political jargon spinning in my head.