MPs’ Round-Up

MPs’ Round-up This week, as elections are looming, we asked our MPs some fun questions – no politics allowed! Two of them obliged. I can balance just about anything on my chin...

What’s your earliest memory? I have a lasting memory, burnt into my mind, of eating a breakfast of baby food in the back of our old Austin A35. Parked in a layby, my parents had woken me on the (then) long, overnight journey to Somerset for our summer holiday. It was as exciting then to be heading to Somerset as it still is, returning each week from Westminster. What was your first job? I had so many jobs in my youth, but I think the first one was as a paperboy. My round was early in the morning, collecting the papers on my bike and then cycling as quickly as possible to get it done before spinning off to school. Lovely in the summer, but dark and cold winters were grim. What was your first pet? We had an enormous white rabbit called Lottie. She lived until a great age and was (almost always safely) housetrained. What were you like at school? At primary school I was diligent and enthusiastic, but my parents had rather a messy divorce which sent

Somerton & Frome MP David Warburton

MP for North Dorset Simon Hoare

life a bit awry in secondary school. I found myself in trouble fairly frequently and perhaps overenthusiastically enjoyed myself. It was a long road back up. Was anyone surprised when you became an MP? Most of my friends. Do you have any hobbies? Playing the piano is something I cannot do without. And reading. It is possible to do both simultaneously. Do you have a party trick? I can balance just about anything on my chin. Chairs, tables, you name it. It’s not yet proved useful. What’s your favourite record? And the first you ever bought? This is incredibly difficult. There’s so much music that is important. But I can’t go more than a week or so without listening to something from Andras Schiff’s luminous 1980s recording of Bach’s WellTempered Clavier Book 2. And the first album I bought was Led Zeppelin II, which I still enjoy… What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever been asked to do as an MP? Too many to list. Refereeing a mud-wrestling contest was quite an experience, but joining scores of naked people to open NudeFest, the largest naturist gathering in the UK and held near Langport, was eye opening, believe me. My clothes remained on. What would your superpower be? Instant travelling. Dispensing with the journey from Somerset each week or the occasional challenge of airports (which I despise), would be a joy.

I was probably a nauseating swot!

What’s your earliest memory? Planting parsley seeds with my paternal grandfather. He was a very keen gardener and I think this is where I discovered my love of gardening What was your first job? For our family business which was all about the recycling of oil. We were very environmentally aware even then What was your first pet? A wonderful grey and white rabbit called Benny. We’ve always had pets and a house doesn’t feel like a home without something nonhuman to look after What were you like at school? Bookish, non-sporty and, in all honestly, probably a nauseating swot Was anyone surprised when you became an MP? Me Do you have any hobbies? I’m really tempted to say ‘my children’ as I really do adore doing things with them. Do you have a party trick? No What’s your favourite record? And the first you ever bought? I’ve never owned a record player so have never purchased a record. The first cassette I bought was Handel’s Water and Firework Music (told you I

was a swot). I love it and my wife and I left the church after our wedding to With Trumpets & Harps. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever been asked to do as an MP? Decency prevents me from saying what it was but suffice to say it would have been uncomfortable, anatomically challenging and possibly illegal in some countries What would your superpower be? Hindsight (for use at the time decisions were taken rather than subsequent to). CONTACT YOUR MP: LOOK THEM UP AT members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP