RICHARD ORD: Running the country is child's play, innit?

Does having kids make you a better prime minister?
Amazon packaging oddity.Amazon packaging oddity.
Amazon packaging oddity.

That was question raised, denied, admitted and later apologised for by Andrea Leadsom in her short-lived Conservative Party leadership campaign.

Ms Leadsom was pilloried in the press for suggesting that, being a mum, meant she had a “very real stake” in the future, unlike Theresa May, who has no children.

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Though she kept quiet on the matter, Ms May could have put up a good argument to the contrary.

After all, it’s one thing being aware of children, quite another having to bring up the ungrateful wretches.

Rather than fighting for their future rights, a parent who spends much of their existence picking up their children’s discarded underpants and breakfast bowls may, if given the power of PM, just look after themselves instead. I know I’d be tempted.

Theresa May probably has a more positive view of children than your average parent.

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Not for her the stand up rows over bedtimes, homework and oral hygiene. Her view of kids will come second hand from mums and dads who paint a pretty picture of their little angels in public, while indoors all hell is breaking loose.

Take our 15-year-old Bradley (I wish someone would).

I’m not saying he’s ungrateful, but as we desperately scrabble about trying to see if we can afford to holiday abroad, he pipes up “Not Portugal. Too windy.”

In fact, he ruled out the whole west coast of Europe. “The Atlantic’s way too cold.”

There then followed a kind of holiday cold war, with him looking up resorts in Florida and hotels in New York, while I scrolled through Lake District camp sites ... just to wind him up.

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Maybe having kids would make you a better prime minister. Certainly, having children has helped my debating skills no end. The daily stand-up arguments and shouting matches are the bread and butter of your frontline MPs.

Unfortunately, in the case of Andrea Leadsom, we will never know. I understand she had to pull out of the leadership race because House of Commons question time clashed with her boys’ footy training and her daughter’s ballet class.

Hat’s off to the good people at Amazon for injecting a bit of excitement into my life.

A package too big to post through the letter box was left with our neighbours for my wife to collect.

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Approaching 4ft in length, what could the package be? A fishing rod, telescope, perhaps a sword!

Nope, turns out it was some sort of eyelash enhancing serum my wife ordered.

Begs the question, why did Amazon put something the size of cigarette box in a cardboard box more than 12 times the size required? I’d like to think Amazon is trying to inject a bit of excitement into customers’ lives with wholly unsuitable, but intriguing, packaging.

Either that or the serum leaked and enhanced the box.