They get brickbats and they get backslaps, but generally more of the former than the latter.
We're talking about politicians, those people who put themselves forward to serve voters and stand up for what they believe.
For a long time the political landscape in Shropshire was straightforward - Tory MPs in all parts, with the exception of The Wrekin, which swung this way and that. In the modern era that pattern has been broken, and it's all to play for.
Over the years there have been big personalities, controversial personalities, and Shropshire MPs with notable long service.
Join us in remembering some of those who lit up the political stage in past times.
- You can enjoy this and more with our weekly FREE Nostalgia Newsletter - with scores of archive pictures and exclusive features on the history of Shropshire and Mid Wales - all sent to your inbox every week. Sign up here
- For anyone curious about where their own family story leads, MyHeritage DNA kits are currently £19.90, excluding shipping. The test can help explore genetic origins and identify DNA matches who may share branches of your family tree. This is an affiliate link. We may earn a small commission on items purchased, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
5. A victory hug for Gerry
Voters were busy in 1974, as there were two general elections that year, the second of which was in October. Here Labour's successful candidate in The Wrekin, Gerry Fowler, is congratulated by his wife Julie, right, and mother Freda, after he held the seat. | Shropshire Star archive
6. The defeated opposition got a Biffen
John Biffen, on the right, seems to be giving his victory speech after holding the North Shropshire seat, in a count held at Whitchurch. Unfortunately we don't have exact details with this picture, but we can narrow it down to general elections in which there was a female candidate for the seat, so it may well be the general election of June 1983. The North Shropshire result was: John Biffen (Con) 28,496; David Evans (Alliance) 16,829; Miss Helen Jones (Lab) 7,860; John Phillimore (Referendum) 135. Con majority 11,667. Con hold. | Shropshire Star archive
7. Carried aloft through Wellington streets
We've copied this picture direct from the Wellington Journal & Shrewsbury News of October 1931, so sorry that it's a bit iffy. The caption was "Col. J Baldwin-Webb being carried through the streets of Wellington after the declaration of the poll." He was the winning Conservative candidate. Colonel James Baldwin-Webb would have an unwelcome place in Shropshire local history, being an MP who would lose his life in war. He drowned when the liner City of Benares was sunk by a German U-boat in 1940. A road in Donnington is named after him. | Wellington Journal
8. Waiting to hear the result
A crowd gathers in the shadow of the YMCA building in Wellington to hear the announcement of an election result. There's somebody at the balcony window. The winning candidate perhaps? Unfortunately the date of the picture, and therefore the particular election concerned, is not known, but the fashions look to be from around the 1930s. | Peter Dickinson