Blog: Those jibes and barbs about David Cameron never understanding ordinary people, having no clue about the problems of the common man, can never be levelled at him again.

Not only did he and wife Samantha love and care for an adored eldest son they knew they would lose, last year they faced that reality in the harshest way when Ivan died suddenly, aged just six.

Every parent who has lost a child knows and recognises the despair which was so clear in their faces as they arrived home that morning.

Then a ‘shall we, shan’t we’ election campaign began while that grief was still so raw, followed by a political dilemma and tough decisions which threw him into the firing line from all quarters.

As a politician, he has to be a big lad and take that – anyway, challenges in our working lives never come close to worries about those we love.

A new Cameron baby born early just a few weeks ago, was such a blessing for the family, helping the healing over Ivan’s loss.

Now yesterday, the life and death pendulum swung back again and Mr Cameron was at another hospital, this time in the South of France after his father Ian had a sudden stroke and was dying. The dash was just in time, and father and son spent precious minutes together before the final parting.

But as he said a son’s farewell to the disabled father who he had said was his hero, a great example and whose love had always been more important than where he’d sent David to school, there would be the added sadness of knowing that baby Florence had not yet met her granddad, and now it was too late.

Loss and grief is something no-one escapes and no-one expects to – it is, after all, the price you pay for loving. And even the most privileged background won’t ease that pain.

By Shirley Tart