Yes, he is the man behind the the EU referendum amendment to the Queen's Speech and yes, that's the amendment hailed as proof that the party is divided.

The Wellingborough MP explains his logic: "The Prime Minister wants to see this bill discussed in parliament. The absolute aim of the amendment is to force it on to the floor of the House (of Commons) and support the PM.

"The PM wants to explore every means of getting this debated and what we're doing is helping him getting it debated.

"We are supporting him in carrying it forward. There's no difference to what he wants. We are not undermining the PM - that's ludicrous."

Members of his own party though are not in accord.

Essex MP Douglas Carswell, a member of the Better Off Out campaign group which calls for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, originally signed the amendment but explained why he abstained.

"I think we've got what we want. I backed the amendment originally because I wanted to see the legislation for a referendum. The government has now published that legislation," he said.

"The onus now is on people like me to persuade Labour MPs to get this on the statute books. We're not going to achieve this by fighting with fellow Conservatives."

Someone should have told Mr Bone.

"We're not at odds," he maintains. "That's a wild interpretation. The PM says 'How can we get this on the floor of the house?'

"His hands are tied by the pesky Lib Dems 'but you backbenchers can do it'.

"I haven't had this conversation because he's in America but I'm sure that's the way it would have gone."

Personally I am not convinced that's exactly the way it would have gone.

Mr Carswell has some advice: "We need to be cool-headed. The PM has given us a commitment to an In/Out Referendum. It's quite fair enough that we are saying we want to see that on the statute book now and as of Monday, the government published a bill to make that happen. So why are we still pushing Downing Street?"

Why indeed? And why is the PM unable to get his own Cabinet to vote against a critical amendment and for the government? It speaks volumes about the state of his leadership.

"The real obstacle is Nick Clegg and we can overcome that," said Douglas Carswell. "For the first time in 40 years a government has published a bill that will allow a vote to leave the European union.

"That's an extraordinary historic opportunity. That's a prize worth going for. Squabbling amongst ourselves is not the way forward."

One thing Peter Bone won't squabble about is that Mr Clegg is the problem. He believes that the PM now has the moral authority to go to the Lib Dem leader and make the case that parliament wants this bill.

"The only thing the public will know is that the Conservatives are for it and the Lib Dems and Labour are against it."

Nice try by the Wellingborough MP but the idea that defying Mr Cameron's strategy is making the PM a happy man is hard to swallow.

That intriguing prospect is being mulled over by several of our MPs as they ponder the impact of the local election results.

We have spoken to three Conservative MPs from the East who say they are seriously considering calling themselves Conservative/UKIP in 2015.

"There's still a lot of detail to work out but in an ideal world I would be selected first by my local association," one said.

"Then, because I also support the main aims of UKIP (to leave the EU and crack down on immigration), I would hope to also be endorsed by UKIP, which means they would not stand against me but help campaign for me."

The idea of Conservatives standing on a joint UKIP ticket was first floated by the Wellingborough MP Peter Bone. He told Sky News "There was a tremendous Conservative vote - there were the Conservatives that voted Conservative and the Conservatives who voted UKIP. The trick is to get us all together again."

Mr Bone told us he had no plans to stand as a joint candidate at the moment but two other MPs from the East have told us the matter is under consideration.

And a poll by Conservative Home found that a third of Tories favoured some kind of pact with UKIP.

The MPs point to the tie-up between the Labour and Co-operative Party. A number of Labour MPs (including Luton South's Gavin Shuker) are endorsed first by Labour and then by the Co-operative Party - "an organisation that is committed to supporting and representing co-operative principles".

It wouldn't be the first time that there had been "arrangements" between the Conservatives and other parties. In 1997 a number of Euro sceptic MPs negotiated agreements with the Referendum Party; in return it did not field candidates in certain seats, and a few behind-the-scenes deals were negotiated between Tories and UKIP at the last election.

On both occasions the MPs still called themselves Conservatives - there was no other name attached. The difference this time round would be sharing the ticket with UKIP in the title.

We understand that there have been conversations with UKIP about this and the party is showing interest.

There are still a number of sticking points. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall at Conservative Party Headquarters, who could press local associations to look less favourably on the MPs concerned.

While UKIP, which is also taking votes from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and "none of the above" voters, may not want to see its brand "contaminated" by Conservatives.

All the Conservatives we've spoken to stress that it's still early days. But they also say something has to be done to combat the UKIP threat.

The former Scots Guardsman is now member for Gayton and Nar Valley, one of 14 new UKIP councillors on Norfolk County Council.

Over the weekend he was chosen as the party's group leader and because UKIP did so well in Norfolk's local elections that also makes him leader of the opposition.

"It's going to be a very steep learning curve but we're up for it," he said.

"All of us who were elected are long-standing UKIP members from all walks of life. We'll be trying to push UKIP's agenda for local referenda, lower council tax and lower business rates."

Mr Coke said apart from "dabbling in parish politics" he had no political affiliations before joining UKIP three years ago.

"UKIP, to me, represents the aspirations of the British people and I see no future for Britain until we're out of Europe. I just don't think the Conservatives get it at the moment."

Mr Coke is now involved in talks with other party leaders ahead of next week's full council meeting, when the new authority leader will be elected. He also has to decide which of the 15 councillors who represent UKIP in Norfolk will shadow the key departments of education, highways and social services.

At the moment he doesn't rule out forming an alliance with another party but points out that UKIP doesn't operate a whip system, so if some of his members don't support a policy they will be allowed to vote against it.

His opponents have questioned whether UKIP will be able to cope with the demands of opposition and be able to make constructive suggestions. He thinks it will.

"I think we are a good team. We're not there just to disrupt the whole thing for the sake of disruption. We've got to co-operate with other parties but we will also want to see changes."

Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and particularly Norfolk, each have a sizeable number of UKIP councillors on the local county councils. A third of all the seats the party won nationally in last week's county council elections were gains made in the East.

As leader of the opposition in Norfolk, a lot of people will be watching Mr Coke to see if he can make his new councillors rise to the challenge. If he does, we could be hearing a lot more about him and them in the years to come.

The Lib Dems said they were hopeful of gains across the county in what is traditionally a Lib Dem versus Conservative battleground. The reality was that their vote dissolved and they lost seven seats.

The Conservatives also ran into trouble and lost seven of their seats, although the Tory losses were expected.

It was UKIP that exceeded all expectations. It took seat after seat from the Conservatives and increased its tally from two to 12.

Although Labour gained four seats, they will be very disappointed not to have done better and overtaken the Lib Dems.

The Green Party lost their only seat and will be questioning their future in the county but there is no doubt a new political landscape has emerged in Cambridgeshire.

The minister for railways was giving evidence to the Transport Select Committee about the plans to offer new rail franchises, most of which have had to be put on hold following the shambles over the West Coast mainline.

Why does it matter? Because the new rail franchises are going to run for between seven and 15 years. Long enough for the new operators to put in investment and improve facilities and services for travellers.

But last month, the government announced that nearly every new rail franchise in the region will start late: c2c Thameside in Essex and Thameslink, which should have new franchises this summer will have to wait until next year. The new Greater Anglia franchise, originally due to start in 2014, won't start until October 2016 while the West Coast mainline won't be renewed until 2017.

It was all put on hold after it emerged there were flaws in the tendering process for the West Coast mainline. Now that the problem has been resolved, why the delay?

"We don't want to overload the market," explained Mr Burns, MP for Chelmsford. "To allow proper competition we can only put out three or four a year for tender."

But one line is still running to time: the East coast mainline which runs through Peterborough and Stevenage, will be re-privatised with a new franchise that will start in 2015.

This has raised some eyebrows among Labour MPs, who pointed out to Mr Burns the line was running perfectly well in state controlled hands.

In the last three years it's made £650m for the taxpayer. Why prioritise that line over the West Coast mainline, wondered committee member Lucy Powell.

"It's performed reasonably well," said Mr Burns."However, the service has plateaued. What it needs is an infusion of innovation which only the private sector can do." The line had recently come bottom for punctuality. What was needed he said was some "imaginative investment".

The West Coast mainline, he said, was continuing to improve and he was confident that Virgin could "build and sustain" the service.

Of greater concern though was London Midland, which has had a number of reliability problems.

"I am keeping a close eye on them as a result of those problems which I consider unacceptable," he said.

With the West Coast problems behind him, Mr Burns hopes his new timetable for franchises will provide reassurance for the industry and long-term investment for the passenger.

It may well do - but most of us will have to wait a little bit longer.

The South Northamptonshire MP is on a mission to keep Great Britain sovereign.

A founding member of the Fresh Start Group, which wants to renegotiate a "better" relationship with Europe, she was speaking out at a Westminster event.

"The EU without Britain is like fish without chips," she declared.

She doesn't want Britain to leave the EU but believes that the status quo is fundamentally damaging: "there are too many laws decided in Brussels that would be better decided in our parliament."

She believes that the lack of accountability and the weakening of democratic consent must be addressed as soon as possible.

"There will never be a better time to change things. The Eurozone is forced to take the road of ever closer union but this is not a path the UK will take."

Ms Leadsom criticised the scrutiny of European legislation here in the UK, claiming "censorship by mass" by dint of the sheer volume of new rules.

The democratic deficit in Europe was growing, Ms Leadsom said.

"At each significant treaty change we have ceded power, yet EU wide turnout in polls has fallen at every election and a vote for an MEP does not deliver enough power over the EU."

Ms Leadsom was unmoved by the point that we do not call the USA undemocratic when votes there fall below 50% and sallied forth with the heart of her argument.

It lies in the assertion that non Eurozone countries, like us, run the risk of being disenfranchised over time by Eurozone members.

Changes in November 2014 mean we'll be outvoted and this must not be allowed to happen, says Ms Leadsom.

"Europe has got so bad that opinion polls show people want to leave. That would be a disaster. But even if we want to, we can't stand still, we will be disenfranchised by the end of next year.

"We need more flexibility and the ability to defend the national interest."

She was full of praise for the Prime Minister's promise of a referendum on Europe but was at pains to state that these were her personal views and not those of the party.

However, the Fresh Start group has the backing of 100 MPs and shows every sign of at least being accepted, if not endorsed, by the party leadership.

Hundreds of students in Cambridge heard him preach his message of peace when he addressed a conference in the city - some were even lucky enough to meet him.

"Cambridge is a very famous institution, I am very very happy to be here," he said. "It is an opportunity to share my views about non violence".

He had been invited to Cambridge by the Global Scholars Symposium, an organisation that brings together students from around the world to find solutions to the world's most challenging problems. He was to speak on the theme of non-violent conflict resolution.

"He is a paragon of thought, he shapes the minds of millions and we're honoured to have him," said Josh Carpenter who helped organise the visit.

"He is the iconic image of non-violence. A force for good."

During his two days in Cambridge the Dalai Lama would deliver three speeches and hold a series of private meetings with students. Our only opportunity to speak to him was at his press conference.

He expressed his fears about the lack of peace in the world. As well talking about his home country of Tibet he mentioned Syria where he said things were "very bad" and turning to North Korea he warned that "the first casualty would be innocent people" if war was to break out.

"I wish scientists could invent one bullet which goes for the real trouble maker not all the innocent people," he said.

In very lengthy, but considered answers, he attacked material wealth, talked about the importance of religious harmony and the lack of respect and compassion shown by people towards each other.

"We need proper education, from kindergarten to university about moral ethics - to educate people about the importance of happiness, compassion and affection.

[If that happened] "I think there is some hope that within this century humanity, through education, can be more compassionate."

He held up India as an example of a country where all faiths lived together in relative harmony and said other countries should follow its example.

He ducked a question from a national newspaper about the Government's changes to welfare reforms, he was also rather bemused when a student newspaper asked him if he would sing a song that summed up his life.

"I am not allowed to sing, I am a Buddhist monk," was his answer.

He left the room to warm applause. He made a point of shaking every journalist's hand, he even high fived the BBC Look East cameraman.

You don't see that sort of thing when British politicians hold news conferences.

Ed Miliband took to a soap box beside the Guildhall in Cambridge Market to try to sell Labour's message for this year's local elections.

"There's been three years of austerity and it hasn't worked and all they can offer is more of the same", he told a crowd of more than 100. "We are saying to people there is a different way forward."

A lot of his audience were Labour party supporters but inquisitive shoppers soon gathered and for 20 minutes Mr Miliband answered their questions.

He attacked the Pension Secretary Iain Duncan Smith who claimed he could live on £53 a week. A sign, Mr Miliband claimed, the government "was out of touch with what ordinary people are feeling".

He laid into the energy and rail companies who he said had ripped passengers off for too long and called Michael Gove's education reforms "just wrong".

He was asked about the so-called bedroom tax, about how to get young people back to work, if he supported the plans to reopen the Oxford to Cambridge rail line and improve the A14 - he does - and what he thought of plans by the EU to ban neonicotinoid pesticides - he had to get his Labour MEP Richard Howitt to answer that one.

"I think the old way of doing politics is incredibly stifling and frankly not very enlightening for people," he later told the BBC.

"You can watch David Cameron and me shouting at each other in the House of Commons once a week, but it doesn't really teach people very much about where the parties stand.

"I want to do politics in a different way and that's why I'm coming to market squares and getting on my soap box. It's an old fashioned way of doing politics but I hope it's a way in which politicians can be more open to people and answer the questions people have on their minds."

But being a good politician he was careful not to commit to too much.

He wouldn't say how he would fund the improvements to the A14, he attacked the government's welfare reforms but wouldn't say where he would make cuts and he ducked our question about whether he would reinstate any of the cuts made by Conservative-run county councils in the region.

"I won't promise anything we can't deliver," he said.

Labour councils he insisted could still make a difference by paying people a living wage, protecting services and putting pressure on energy companies to reduce their bills.

Labour only has a handful of county councillors in the eastern region with just three in Cambridgeshire, but Mr Miliband believes his party's message will play well in this year's elections.

"I think even in more affluent areas people are worried about housing and whether their son or daughter can buy a house. They're worried about jobs for young people, they're worried about the cost of living so I think we have a message that speaks to people right across the country."

The first woman to run the country was famous for introducing the "right to buy" council houses (1980), the 1982 Falklands War, the 1984 miners strike and in 1990, the poll tax. She shaped the politics of a generation.

Here are some of the tributes our MPs have posted on Twitter

Bernard Jenkin MP (Con) Harwich and North Essex: "Mrs Thatcher will always be revered across the world for her sense of principle and iron will, even by those who disagreed with her"

Andrea Leadsom MP (Con) Northamptonshire South: "Margaret Thatcher - inspired me to think you can change the world for the better"

Eric Pickles MP (Con) Brentwood and Ongar: "Margaret Thatcher gave his country the confidence to believe in itself. A Great PM and a Great Britain"

Robert Halfon MP (Con) Harlow: "Thatcher made UK a world power, established popular capitalism, enabled millions to purchase council homes. A real one nation Conservative"

Stewart Jackson MP (Con) Peterborough: "Privileged to have known Lady Thatcher. Principled, patriotic, unequalled. Ended Communist tyranny gave working people stake in their future"

George Freeman MP (Con) Mid Norfolk: "So farewell Lady T, one of the greatest. And thank you for showing us what conviction, courage and leadership can do in politics"

Douglas Carswell MP (Con) Clacton: "Britain's decline seemed inevitable. Then Margaret Thatcher became PM and lifted Britain off its knees. She was never rejected by the voters"

Brooks Newmark MP (Con) Braintree: "Very sad to hear Baroness Thatcher has died. She was one of the great Prime Minister's of the 20th century"

Steve Barclay MP (Con) North East Cambridgeshire: "Very sad news that Margaret Thatcher has passed away. A towering figure and a defining influence in British Politics"

Chris Heaton-Harris MP (Con) Daventry: "RIP Baroness Thatcher. Few politicians get to win a battle of ideas, let alone inject hope and belief into a nation"

Nadine Dorries MP (Ind) Mid Bedfordshire: "Only a few years ago I dashed into a gathering and she said 'you, young lady are late'. I was 52 and felt 5. Such a sad day"

Therese Coffey MP (Con) Suffolk Coastal: "RIP Margaret Thatcher. You transformed our country for the better, putting Great back into Great Britain and helped open the Iron Curtain"

Grant Shapps MP (Con) Welwyn Hatfield: "Sincere condolences to the Thatcher family. Margaret was an incredible woman, with the bravery to lead where others could only follow."

The end of the Thatcher era will not be mourned by everyone.

Former Labour MP for Norwich North, Dr Ian Gibson, said: "She destroyed many people's lives and the opposition at the time was weak."

Last word to Dr Julian Huppert MP (Lib Dem) Cambridge: "Like her or loathe her, there's no doubt Thatcher was strong-willed with a clear ideology. She changed Britain forever"

They have six county councillors in Norfolk, so it's no surprise the party's leader, Natalie Bennett, has come to Norwich to launch its campaign for the county council elections.

Ms Bennett's visit included seeing the city's food bank. The Greens say recent welfare cuts will lead to a rise in people needing these emergency food supplies.

"What we want to do is to ensure that welfare benefit payments meet people's basic needs. We're here in the sixth richest country in the world and what we're seeing is more demand for places like this every week.

"We've got the bedroom tax, council tax benefit cuts, cuts in the Disability Living Allowance. We believe we should have a minimum wage and we should have sufficient benefits and that should be paid for by making sure that rich people and multinationals pay their taxes" she said.

Despite a lot of people wondering how long the Green Party could last, it has just celebrated its 40th anniversary, shaking off its tree hugging, eco-warrior image. "We have the same basic principles - a fair society in which everyone has sufficient, within the limits of our one planet" says Ms Bennett.

These days you're more likely to hear about the fight for a living wage than saving the rain forests. Even so, will people struggling to make ends meet automatically think of the Green Party offering them a practical alternative?

Ms Bennett does not believe the party is a luxury for easier economic times and denies they are struggling to make their voices heard.

She's a strong advocate of wind power, which she believes will help bring down the cost of energy, despite news that bills will rise to pay for greener electricity.

Ms Bennett claims renewable power is vital for the future: "we need that renewable energy", she says.

"We have choices, we do need to replace some of our power plants. What we'd like to promote is community owned energy where turbines are owned by people living there and profits flow down to the community."

She also criticised incinerator plans in the county: "they're a 20th century idea that shouldn't continue into the 21st century. We should be concentrating on reducing waste instead of locking yourself into decades long contracts with incinerators."

Norfolk has more Green county councillors than anywhere else in the country and they are keen to improve on that.

"We are hoping the east will elect a Green MEP at the European elections next year", she says. "We got 15% in the last general election in Norwich, we want to build on that."

Tough times put the Greens under pressure and the protest vote appears to moving elsewhere, so these elections will be a significant test for this party that has seen consistent growth for more than a decade in the eastern counties.

Step forward, Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party.

It was standing room only at the Brandon Community Hall in Suffolk. More than 300 people crammed into the room. Another 20 or 30 people stood in the corridor straining to listen and the police were called to direct the traffic.

"I thought UKIP was only for eccentrics, fruitcakes and gadflies, so I'm glad so many of you are members of the club," joked Mr Farage, referring to a comment by Prime Minister David Cameron, while pushing his way to the front.

Mr Farage is not going to let that one go in a hurry and Mr Cameron's words must be ringing in his ears when an events like this attract so much attention.

"The fact that there are so many of you here shows that there's a change going on."

The UKIP leader believes that the Westminster parties have lost touch with the concerns and aspirations of ordinary people and he thinks UKIP can fill the gap.

"We're plain spoken, we're not bound by political correctness and we're talking about the kind of things that people are talking about around their dining room tables," he told us later.

"The Eastleigh by-election (where the party came 2nd) was a hell of an event in British politics. I feel that if this momentum continues, with the attitude of the country the way it is, we will soon cause a political earthquake."

To loud cheers, he told the meeting in Brandon that UKIP was now the only party that talked common sense.

"Europe is now in the grip of fanatics," said the MEP. "I don't just want Britain out of the EU, I want the rest of Europe out of the EU."

Mr Farage criticised the deal to rescue the Cyprus economy, involving a levy on bank deposits. "It is deeply worrying and sets a dangerous precedent," he said and advised anyone with a second home in Europe or savings in a European bank to think very carefully.

Mr Farage had plenty to say on immigration and praised the former Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire, Julie Spence: "One of the brave ones for speaking out about the pressures of migration."

Controversially, he remarked that he had been "flabbergasted to go to Peterborough and see ghettos where virtually no English is spoken". It was a comment condemned on Twitter by Labour MEP Richard Howitt, as "shameful".

A recent opinion poll suggested that UKIP has more support in the east than anywhere else in the country. Mr Farage is hoping that will translate into lots of new councillors in the forthcoming local elections and set up the party to top the poll in next year's Euro elections

It is worth remembering that the UKIP leader has made optimistic claims before and yet his party only has a handful of councillors and not one MP.

There is no doubt that support in the east continues to grow and if the reception he received in Brandon is anything to go by, other parties might do well to take note.

The big question is whether it will be enough this time to create the political earthquake that Nigel Farage hopes for.

We understand that a large part of the £1.6bn announced for research and development will be going into agriscience.

With most of the country's plant breeders based in the East and with centres like the National Institute for Agricultural Botany in Cambridge and the John Innes Centre in Norwich, it's a safe bet that most of that money will be coming our way.

"The east of England has this very large concentration of world class research," says Prof Mike Bevan from the John Innes Centre. "We believe science can benefit production in the future and this new funding will give us the potential to develop research activities."

There is demand from farmers, not just in this country but around the world, for seeds which can produce higher yields, are resistant to drought and rely less on fertilizers.

The new money, which the research institutes have to bid for by June, will be for new buildings and scientific infrastructure.

"The agricultural research sector is getting the recognition it deserves," says George Freeman, the MP for Mid Norfolk, who is also the government's advisor on life sciences.

"Agriculture and food research has been a traditional strength in our region for decades but over the last 10 or 20 years we have reduced funding for it, so it's important that the Chancellor has announced that he will support this sector."

If it gets the money, the John Innes Centre hopes to build new greenhouses and invest in various imaging devices to make it easier to measure plant performance in the field.

"We've got great potential for agricultural innovation and production," says Professor Bevan. "If we can help develop crop products for tomorrow, it would be an amazing challenge."

"I decided to come here not just for sentimental reasons but because I recognise the importance of what you're doing", the Cambridge graduate told his audience,

Surrounded by some of the cleverest (and possibly richest) entrepreneurs in Britain, the Business secretary praised the phenomena that's become known as the Cambridge Cluster.

"You are the premier cluster in the UK without a doubt," he said. "You are remarkable and unique. If there is a silicon valley in Europe this is it."

1525 technology companies are dotted around the Cambridge area. They employ 53 thousand people and have an annual turnover of nearly 12 billion pounds. And while he was in the City, the pharmaceutical giant, Astra Zeneca, announced that it would be moving its corporate headquarters to Cambridge and building a new research and development centre.

"They've come here because Cambridge is now a world leader in technology science," Dr Cable told us.

"Cambridge has become a world leader, you've got one of the best universities in the world, some world class research is done here, numerous Nobel prizes have been won and at the same time over the last few decades it's become a major centre for entrepreneurship."

"It's this fusion of good business entrepreneurship and a strong science and research base which is making Cambridge such a success."

As he toured the city, Dr Cable was keen to speak about what the Government is doing to try to encourage greater entrepreneurship. He talked about the "Valley of Death", which new companies have to go through as they try to find financing for their projects - on that, he hoped things were starting to get better.

But those he met had other concerns: many smaller companies were finding it hard to be considered by the Government when it was awarding contracts. Worries over the poor state of transport infrastructure and the lack of affordable housing, which makes it harder to encourage people to work in Cambridge, were also expressed.

Dr Cable acknowledged that there is a problem: "There is a real danger here and if this economic success story is going to be kept going, there is going to have to be a lot more houses being built, including social housing."

He hopes the Government's new City Deal status, recently awarded to Cambridge, will help by giving local councils and the business community more of a say in planning issues.

"Ultimately our future is going to lie in knowledge based industries and we've got to all get behind it," he warned.

The Government is looking to the private sector and particularly the so-called new technologies to drive economic growth. Dr Cable sees Cambridge playing a key role.

He tells them about Breckland in Norfolk, which shares its chief executive with two other authorities and about Daventry and South Norfolk who are making money from renting out property. All these measures allow the authorities to keep down council tax.

Now he has another council to crow about - Uttlesford. It's an authority in Essex normally associated with issues over expansion at Stansted but now it's being feted in government circles as one of the best run authorities in the country.

Six years ago it was days away from declaring itself bankrupt. Now it has taken £2m out of its annual spending. It can afford to cut council tax, build council homes and set aside £750,000 for big society projects.

"What's impressive here is that they haven't wasted time worrying about what they should and shouldn't do. They've just got on and done the job, made some tough decisions early on but turned things around," said Mr Lewis.

"Now they've got strong reserves, they're building council houses and cutting council tax.

"It's a great example to other councils of what can be done, It's a good example of that go-getting kind of attitude which delivers for local people."

Problems in 2007 led to several senior officers being dismissed and the Conservatives took over from the Liberal Democrats.

"There were quite a few sleepless nights when we took over," says the Conservative Council Leader Jim Ketteridge.

"We were within weeks of needing government intervention because we couldn't meet our commitments and as the weeks went by we found things were even worse than we thought."

He admits turning round the authority was painful but necessary.

"We now have a stable financial situation and we hope not to have a council tax increase for the next two years.

"Despite taking £2m out of our revenue costs, we've not stopped doing anything, we've not cut any services and we're proud of that."

As well as slimming down the so-called back office, Uttlesford has also benefited from the government's new home bonus. It has already built or been given permission to build 3,000 homes over the last two years and plans to build another 3,000 by 2026.

It is also about to rent out some of its council office space to Essex social services.

Environmental groups like the Campaign to Protect Rural England are concerned about the policy of building new homes, often in rural areas, in return for government cash, while the local Liberal Democrats say in the hurry to build the homes there isn't always enough consultation with local communities.

Labour say Uttlesford can make big savings because it is a largely affluent area with few pockets of deprivation. It also has plenty of space for building new homes.

It points to urban areas like Norwich, Stevenage and Great Yarmouth where the councils have little space to expand and a lot of call on their services. It's not possible, they say, for every authority to be expected to be as successful as Uttlesford.

But Mr Lewis disagrees: "In any business, whether you're wealthy or not, you've got to look at your base line, at how your management is put together and make sure you're as efficient with people's money as you possibly can be.

"At the moment poorer councils are not moving fast enough at looking at how they're structuring their management and they're wasting money. It needs to be spent on services rather than officers."

In other words he's determined to see councils cut their budgets further and become more efficient.

Uttlesford is being held up as an example of how he believes it can be done.

No one would have predicted they'd still be here 40 years on but they are - particularly in this region.

The party boasts 40 councillors across the East - it's the main opposition on Norwich and Mid Suffolk councils and it has high hopes for this year's local and next year's Euro elections.

"Our membership has doubled in the last five years," says Norwich's Adrian Ramsay. "We've grown quicker than we predicted and in all those places where we've been elected, we're having a radical impact on the policies that are debated and adopted."

Mr Ramsay, 31, was campaigning for the Greens before he was old enough to vote. After becoming a Norwich councillor and deputy party leader, he's now the party's Home Affairs spokesperson.

"Of course I believed the party could be this successful," he says. "Many of the ideas we promoted 40 years ago have now been taken on board: recycling is common place, we've got international agreements on climate change but there is still more to do."

Norwich is the party's main success story in the region; the Greens have 15 councillors on the city council.

"We are now a strong national party and people take us seriously," says 38-year-old group leader, Clare Stephenson.

"There may still be a few dodgy clothes around but not so many. We've got a much more professional outlook and I hope we now appeal to all sections of the population."

She attributes a lot of the party's success to its policy of championing local issues. "Social justice is one of our tag-lines," she explains. "We need to share things out and I think that appeals a lot to people who live in cities, where discrimination and inequality are much more apparent."

But is the party facing a mid life crisis? Professor Paul Whiteley at Essex University has studied the rise of the Greens and wonders how much more the party can achieve.

"They have the dilemma of all small parties, which is that if they've got a good idea, their older and well established cousins will steal their clothes. In one sense that's a victory but in another it leaves them high and dry."

He also points to research in other parts of Europe, which suggests that austerity is pushing environmental concerns down the voting agenda.

"When times are good people will say we're ready to make some sacrifices for the environment but when times are bad they are less willing to do that and that's a problem for the Greens."

Adrian Ramsay disagrees: "We are not seeing the scale of action needed by governments to tackle the problems that we have in terms of the environment and increasing inequalities in society. We're needed more than ever before."

Mr McPartland is the first Conservative MP to have an article published in the left wing newspaper the Morning Star.

This may have come as a surprise across the political divide and Mr McPartland himself admits that some will find it shocking.

He wrote the article calling for companies to pay their fair share of tax as part of his campaign against tax avoidance.

The MP for Stevenage claims the problem of tax avoidance was not only a problem for Britain but for the world in general, especially developing nations.

"Fancy corporate lawyers can eloquently describe the differences between tax avoidance and tax evasion, with the lines between them becoming increasingly blurred," he said.

The idea of making global companies pay more tax has been a growing campaign associated with the political left in recent years and the basis of groups like the Occupy movement.

But it's also a subject close to Mr McPartland's heart.

He has raised it both in the House and in a debate in Westminster Hall in recent weeks when he claimed: "tax evasion is clearly wrong, illegal and unfair to the rest of society because everyone else has to pay more in taxes to make up for those who do not pay their fair share.

"We cannot have mob rule and many members are very much in favour of the positive contributions that large FTSE 100 companies make to the larger overall tax take."

He recounted how he'd had a meeting with Christian Aid supporters in his constituency when the "Tax Justice" bus visited Stevenage.

They believe that tax dodging by international companies costs the UK about £35 billion a year.

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke replied: "I want again to put on the record the Government's view that companies must pay tax in accordance with the law, and it is crucial that they are seen to do so."

Mr Gauke added: "as a Minister, I have said for some years that businesses need to do much more to explain the taxes that they pay and how they comply with their obligations."

"Such transparency can go a long way towards building greater trust between them and their customers, and might end up having commercial benefits", before he detailed the government's efforts to get to grips with the problem.

It is an issue that has been taken up by George Osborne and Danny Alexander at The Treasury but it's a notoriously difficult area.

Despite taking up this predominantly left-wing supported cause, an unrepentant Mr McPartland said he believed it would be the companies themselves who make these changes, but only if the customers drag them "kicking and screaming towards tax transparency".

So the ball's in your court.

But you would fail to take the Mayor of London seriously at your peril , which is why his plans for a brand new hub airport to the east of London - impacting on our region - carry some weight.

He's brought in consultants and hired engineers in a tireless endeavour to assess the various plans. This week he revealed to MPs that all is becoming clear and he he is finally getting close to a decision.

"There are three options in the frame," he told the Transport Select Committee. "Like a tigress with her cubs, I can see advantages in all three. Each option has much to commend it."

With Heathrow almost full and the west of London overcrowded, the mayor believes looking to the east is where the solution will be found.

The three proposals on the shortlist include building the four runway airport beside the Thames estuary, building in the so-called "Boris Island" in the middle of the Thames or development at an enlarged Stansted.

"Stansted is really replete with potential." he told the MPs. "If you look at the journey times, the costs and the potential productivity in the Lea Valley, you can see huge potential for Stansted. It's got a lot going for it."

But before we get too excited, he also outlined the advantages of the Thames option: "My engineers think the journey time to the inner estuary from London would be quicker than to Stansted."

Mr Johnson is a man impatient for change. He attacked the "glacial speed" at which decisions were being made about building future airports. It meant that Britain was "haemorrhaging jobs and opportunities to our rivals".

Foreign companies, he claimed, were going to other parts of Europe where the air connections were better; it was time to make "the case for boldness" and develop "a better long term sustainable alternative to Heathrow".

Not everyone is convinced by his arguments. Conservative Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South), who sits on the committee, said he was finding it difficult to find reliable forecasts of future passenger demand.

"I haven't yet made up my mind on the hub," he said .

The final decision will be made, not by the Mayor of London, but by whoever is in Government in 2015. That's when the Davies commission will produce its report into air capacity in the UK.

Some people (not least Mr Johnson) have accused the government of sweeping the problem under the carpet until after the next election but the new Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, told the hearing that, "just over two years is a reasonable time table".

When asked if his department had made any assessment of the economic implications of a lack of hub capacity, he said: "The one thing the department is not short of is numerous reports which come to us on this issue."

He won't commit himself either way for now but he did observe that in the last few months Gatwick had come up with its own proposal for building a second runway, Heathrow was redeveloping Terminal 2 and Stansted was changing owners.

"Airports are now coming forward with their own proposals... they are now competing with each other and that is an interesting development in aviation policy," said Mr McLoughlin.

As we have said before, the government would much prefer the industry to come up with its own solution to this electorally explosive issue and the Transport Secretary appeared to confirm that.

But Boris Johnson believes the politicians should be in the driving seat. He will press ahead with his own plans, all of which would have a big impact on the eastern region.

Who knows, by the time the Government comes to make its decision, Mr Johnson may be an even more influential player in the debate than he is now.

First you need to drum up support for the idea, then you need to persuade someone to fund a proper study.

Even when that's been done, the report is likely to sit in a filing cabinet for many years while the project gets put on and taken off various lists for funding.

Eventually, if you're very lucky, the scheme might just get commissioned and finally the diggers will go in.

The Eastern region has a long list of schemes which, for decades, businesses, motorists and local residents have been longing for: people were talking about a by-pass for the village of Elveden on the A11 back in the 1970s and there was talk of completely dualling the A47 in Norfolk in a 1988 government white paper.

There is currently a growing sense of optimism among MPs and councillors that things are starting to change.

The bulldozers have started digging at Elveden, work will shortly begin widening the A14 near Cambridge and improving the Black Cat roundabout on the A1 and Galleys Corner at Braintree in Essex.

Positive signs keep coming - this week Treasury and Department for Transport officials went to Cambridge for serious discussions on the long-awaited plans for widening the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon.

Nick Clarke, leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "It was fascinating to hear that George Osborne is asking his officials on a regular basis 'when is the A14 going to be upgraded?'

"They told us that the Government will provide most of the money and pay for a toll road but we will have to put in some of the funding ourselves."

Private discussions are now underway with councils and businesses in Cambridgeshire to see what local funds can be raised.

At the same time this week the roads minister, Philip Hammond, was singing the praises of the A47, telling a debate organised by MPs from Norfolk: "I think [the plans for improvement] are ideally placed to be considered as one of the earliest route-based strategies in the forthcoming funding programme and I do hope that they will be one of the first one or two, after the three we are currently considering."

Earlier in the week, Mr Hammond told MPs from Essex that he also recognised the strategic importance of the A120 - another project a long time in the pipeline - and he was looking forward to the outcome of a new report currently being prepared on the road by the Highways Agency.

Meanwhile, plans for an extra junction on the M11 at Harlow were formally approved this week by Essex County Council. Another transport Minister, Norman Baker expressed support for those plans.

"This is fantastic news, I've been campaigning for an additional junction for over eight years now," said Robert Halfon, the MP for Harlow.

The cynics among you will note that there is lots of talk at the moment, but no money, and until serious funding is actually announced there is a danger that all this optimism will be short-lived.

But in a region which has felt neglected when it's come to infrastructure funding in the past, it feels like the needs of East are finally moving up the agenda.

Now all we need is for ministers to deliver........

"There is nothing like a swift and bloody coup and the Tories do it so ruthlessly" tweeted Steve Morphew, minutes after we broke the news of the resignation of Derrick Murphy as Conservative group leader on Friday.

Even before Norfolk County Council's standards committee had found Mr Murphy brought the office of Leader of the Council into disrepute, Conservative councillors were gathered in huddles around County Hall, in Norwich, and making phone calls.

Mr Murphy had left the hearing declaring that he disagreed with the verdict and pointed out that he had been cleared of six other charges.

He hoped he could soon resume his position as council leader but his colleagues had had enough.

An hour later his deputy put out a press release saying: "Derrick Murphy has done really great work for Norfolk County Council and the people of Norfolk over the time he was the leader of the council. In the light of today's events I am sure that he will do the honourable thing and step down."

Mr Murphy was censured for allegedly sending an email which undermined a fellow Tory, the leader of King's Lynn and West Norfolk District Council, Nick Daubney.

It also emerged during the hearing that the chief executive of the county council, David White, made a secret recording of a phone conversation with Mr Murphy.

He revealed that he found Mr Murphy hard to work with. "He's often not direct with me and I find him constantly evasive," he told the committee.

When he gave evidence Mr Murphy was typically robust and argued with some members of the panel.

Several Norfolk MPs and councillors were already disaffected, blaming Mr Murphy's handling of the King's Lynn waste incinerator plan for a collapse in Conservative support in West Norfolk. His censure by the standards committee added to their dissatisfaction.

Mr Murphy says he's standing down because he wants to pursue issues against the council and it would be incompatible for him to be its leader at the same time.

He has expressed concern over the recording of a conversation with him, as have a number of councillors, who are already asking questions over whether the practice is more widespread.

"Members will be cautious when making phone calls with officers of the council, wondering if they're being recorded," says Georgs Nobbs, the leader of the Labour group.

Mr Murphy says in his resignation letter that he is a party loyalist and "the last thing I would like to see is for me to become an issue in what will be a very hard fought (county council) election".

The Conservatives will now have to choose a new leader with only weeks to go before this year's county council election campaign gets underway. Whoever takes over will not only need to build bridges quickly with the party in West Norfolk but will also have to find a way to broker a compromise over the divisive issue of the waste incinerator.

In addition, of course, there is the small matter of running the council at a time of continuing budget cuts.

The call for a fair funding formula to prevent them losing out to school sixth forms has been echoing across the green benches.

Only last week Sir Bob Russell, the voice of Colchester, called the system that gives higher funding for each student attending school sixth forms "unfair".

Now Dr Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge, has laid out his case to support the colleges.

"It is completely unfair that even though these colleges are funded in the same way as sixth forms attached to schools and are teaching the same age children, they are treated differently under the VAT rules," he told Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander.

The regulations leave Cambridge's Hills Road, which has consistently ranked among the top three state sixth form colleges in the country, along with Long Road Sixth Form Colleges and Cambridge Regional College, paying hundreds of thousands of pounds in VAT.

Dr Huppert's putting pressure on the government to end the unfair rule which means that colleges have to pay VAT on goods and services even though sixth forms attached to schools are exempt.

"This leaves them hundreds of thousands of pounds out of pocket on VAT charges; money which could be spent to the benefit of their pupils," he complained.

It's an argument familiar to Sir Bob Russell, who has already told the Commons that Colchester Sixth Form College was the most successful in the country but that the funding given for each student was less than that given to students who attended school sixth forms.

Dr Huppert asked the Mr Alexander about the VAT paid by sixth form colleges and further education colleges in 2012.

Mr Alexander told him change was coming.

"When we took office we found a situation in which sixth form colleges were considerably less well funded for that group of pupils than schools.

"We are taking steps, year by year, to equalise the funding arrangements, and we will look again at that in the spending round in the first half of this year."

But that hasn't satisfied our Lib Dems who have pledged to continue their campaign until there's a fairer deal for sixth forms and further education colleges.

"I cannot see any justification for this double standard and I will continue to fight this issue until the Treasury changes this unfair policy," Dr Huppert said.