Spending a couple of hours with simon Hughes is an exhausting experience. It starts in relative comfort with coffee in the ground-floor cafe of Portcullis House. The Liberal Democrat's candidate to replace Ken Livingstone as mayor of London is, as is often the case, late (way back in 1988, the Surveyor magazine commented that it was "a little suspect") but once he turns up, he is straight into his stride. Then, after half an hour, it becomes apparent that he may be late to make a television appearance - so we hurry through the Houses of Parliament to a BBC studio on Millbank. Here, Hughes expounds on attracting teenagers into politics to Andrew Neil before rushing back to parliament to complete our interview - before then rushing to the chamber to ask a question on government fuel policy. "I'm giving you value for money here, aren't I?" Hughes says. Dare I disagree?
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