After her husband Duncan Matlock, a senior Government Minister responsible for promoting family values, is revealed in the tabloid press to have had a fling with a pretty political aide, Flora Matlock is clearly expected by everyone around her to stand by her man. For his part, he assures her it was a onetime fling and that it was just an aberration on his part. For Flora, the betrayal goes deep and affects her self-image in a serious way. She complies however, smiling at photo ops, attending a review meeting with the constituency association and otherwise playing the dutiful wife while her husband continues to scramble to save his political career.

Flora Matlock performs brilliantly on a television interview and the crisis over her husband's career seems to have passed. From all appearances, she is the dutiful wife standing by her husband. Appearances can be deceiving however. She subtly and very intelligently begins to plant the seeds of her husband's downfall. She provide the Party Whip, Sir Donald Frazier, with information that puts in doubt his character. She then feeds the press the story of her husband's inaction on saving a local children's nursery. Her coup de grace however is to have her father buy a property at a cut rate price from someone who will benefit from recently introduced legislation.

Duncan Matlock appears to have survived another political crisis but Flora is fast learning how to manipulate the reins of power to her own hidden agenda.