"The sense of duty and public service was instilled in me. That's why I always have shiny shoes," says Lord Vernon Coaker, reflecting on his prestigious political career which had been heavily influenced by his father.
As the former Labour MP for Gedling walked down Carrington Street his father's ascendancy was evident in his pair of glossy-black leather shoes which had been impeccably polished.
Buffing-out every inch of imperfection had become somewhat even more pertinent to Lord Coaker this year, however, upon the passing of his father, Edwin, at the beginning of January.
After 22 years serving the Gedling constituency for Labour, Lord Coaker became a life peer in March of 2021.
His duties as an MP had come to an end in 2019, but only by a very fine margin, with the Conservative's Tom Randall snubbing him with just 679 votes.
Sitting down for a coffee at 200 Degrees with Nottinghamshire Live's Agenda Editor, Joseph Locker, Lord Coaker recalled his family - including his father - had been unable to attend his appointment in the Lords due to the pandemic.
"When I formally got made a peer nobody could come," he said.
"Normally you would have the occasion, you would have your family and friends there, but you could not do it."
The circumstances had been "unfortunate", he says, particularly for a man who holds family so close to his heart.
He had, after all, been named after his uncle, Sgt Vernon Coaker, who was just 23 when he was killed during a raid on the village of Le Plein in 1944.
Being conferred into the House of Lords was, however, perhaps somewhat paradoxical for his father, Edwin.
He had been born in rural Devon in 1926 and was one of ten children.
"One of the last conversations I had with him was about his childhood where he talked about no electricity, no running water, no inside toilet," Lord Coaker says.
"All of them would do a bit of school and then go up to help these local landowners, farmers and Lords and they got a bit of food back for doing that.
"Then the war came and he went to war right at the end in '45, right to the far east. Then he came back and joined the Met Police."
Recollecting the moment he became an MP in 1997, Lord Coaker says his father had been "very proud", but he wonders how his father truly felt about his son being conferred into the Lords.
"I just wonder sometimes, I've got to be careful how I say this because I don't mean it in a derogatory sense, when I went into the Lords my dad was, he was absolutely made up when I went into the Commons, but when I went into the Lords I sometimes wonder, when you reflect back to rural Devon, when he worked as a child on the rich landowners land, just for a bit of this and a bit of that, whether there was something in there," Lord Coaker added.
"It is difficult to say that without belittling my father, but you do sometimes wonder? Unfortunately he never had the opportunity to come into the Lords."
It is therefore an opportunity that he does not want to take for granted.
'You're Vernon Coaker aren't you? You haven't changed in 20 years!'
Lord Coaker lives in Cotgrave with his wife, Jacqueline, with whom he has two children.
He describes himself as a "North London boy" who moved to Nottinghamshire when his wife got a job in Top Valley as a teacher.
It was here he would stay and study to become a teacher at Trent Polytechnic (now Nottingham Trent University), before becoming a councillor in Cotgrave from 1983 to 1997.
Having spent much of his life in the service of the public the 68-year-old's popularity is still evident to this day.
In a series of incidents - which he assured were "absolutely not set-up" - two people approached him as he stood outside Nottingham Railway Station.
"You're Vernon Coaker aren't you? You haven't changed in 20 years!" one man said.
Mere minutes later a woman approached him and said: "Coaker, isn't it?"
He recalled telling Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who recommended him for the peerage, that he wanted to be a "working peer".
And in becoming a Lord, he emphasised he did not want to leave his former constituents, the city, county and the region behind.
'Even if you think, they must think I'm talking rubbish here, they sit there in polite silence'
The shift from the House of Commons to the House of Lords was "unnerving" at the beginning, he says.
It is second chamber in Parliament which examines public policy and bills which are ultimately put through in the Commons.
"It's a real privilege to be in the Lords," Lord Coaker said.
"Sometimes when I think about it maybe the Commons is a bit over the top in terms of rowdiness but on the other hand it is a clash of views and opinion. It reflects that division in the country.
"In the House of Lords even if you think, they must think I'm talking rubbish here, they sit there in polite silence. And that I have to say to start with was a bit unnerving. It is much calmer and much more reasonable. The power of intellect and logic there shines through.
"Obviously you have got very intellectual people, very powerful people, in the Commons. But in the Lords because it is quieter and almost more like a court you can hear that and appreciate that. In there you have people who are ex-Lord Chief Justices, ex-Chief Constables, ex-Commissioners of the police or ex-heads of the Army.
"It is unnerving."
'There is always the debate about whether the Lords should exist'
While the Lords does indeed play a crucial part in examining and proposing amendments to bills which directly and indirectly affect the country, its existence is still up for debate.
In 1999 Tony Blair's Labour Government slashed the number of hereditary peers, but 92 do still sit today and all of them are men.
While it does not quite have the same sway as the Commons, which makes the ultimate decisions, its power is noticeable.
Labour peers, including Lord Coaker, handed the Government 14 defeats on its Policing Bill just recently.
They had opposed a number of late amendments to the bill which human rights activists feared would hamper peaceful protests.
The Lords also recommended an amendment to make misogyny a hate crime.
"Obviously because people have retired or moved on, by its nature the people are older and more experienced, but sometimes that is used as a criticism," Lord Coaker says, referencing reform.
"But it is a strength as well. So I think there is always the debate about whether the Lords should exist and does it need reforming. It is unacceptable there are still hereditary peers.
"Tony Blair reformed it to get rid of most of those, but there are still 90 that are still there and I think in the end they will go.
"Whatever the reform is it is something to have a revising chamber there of some sort is important. It is not elected but it doesn't legislate, in the end the Commons always gets its way, but the Lords just say, do you really think this is right?"
'I would be lying to say I don't miss it'
Lord Coaker's Gedling seat is now held by the Conservative Party in Tom Randall.
He kept the seat locked-down for 22 years, but the faltering of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn prompted sea change across Nottinghamshire and indeed the wider country.
But what does Lord Coaker think of the man who superseded him?
"Look, people will have their own view of what he does or doesn't do locally, I don't know about some of that, but what I do know that someone who is standing up for the community I think some of the things and policies he has stood up for have been a disaster for the community," he says.
And he does indeed miss representing the constituents of Gedling.
"I would be lying to say I don't miss it," he added.
"I miss some of the contact I had and the individual cases you took up and the differences you make. But as I say, things have moved on for me, it is an immense privilege to be in the Lords.
"But being in the Lords gives me the opportunity to push for more investment in the Midlands. Some people say as you get older you become a bit more cynical. But I seem to be doing the opposite. I feel more enthusiastic, more determined.
"I still have a role to play. It is different I am not the member of parliament. But I am not going to walk away from an area that I've represented for so long."
Lord Coaker now chairs the Nottingham Drug and Crime Partnership and works with the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham, working on tackling modern slavery and human-trafficking.
And while reputation and new title does absolutely command a lot of respect, he emphasised it does not stop him from becoming the butt of a good old joke.
He laughed and said: "I still get a couple of my mates come in now and say; 'how you doing, m'Lord?"
