DID the era of the conviction politician die out when Baroness Thatcher and Tony Benn breathed their last breaths?

At their funerals people grieved not just for their passing but also for a time when political heavyweights were defined by a single-minded sense of purpose and direction.

Over the past month, Theresa May and her party have come under fire for successive Uturns and a failure to stand by their manifesto promises – and this week Labour proved to be no slouches when it comes to changes of heart.

Before the election, Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman suggested that Jeremy Corbyn had no real chance of winning, and a year ago, when Mr Corbyn faced a leadership challenge from disgruntled moderates in the party, she told him: “Much as I like you on a personal level, you can’t offer leadership.”

She has now agreed to join her leader’s front bench shadow cabinet.

Earlier this week, Durham MP and Corbyn critic Roberta Blackman-Woods, who resigned last summer but rejoined the frontbench after his re-election, agreed to take a new shadow post.

As a rule, it is difficult for people in public life to change their minds. Politicians who do are accused of lacking the courage of their convictions, of flip-flopping and of being typical politicians who say one thing and do another.

It would be wrong if elected officials were so pig-headed or ill-informed that they consistently refused to consider issues from a new point of view. A change of mind can be a sign of strength and maturity. But falling into line against your true feelings for the sake of political expediency will rightly be regarded as a cynical and self-serving move.