- MP for Cleethorpes, Immingham and Barton.
My all time favourite five reads are…
- Metro by Alexander Kaletski – a novel about growing up in communist Russia
- Newspapers – any! I love the news
- Three men on the Bummell by Jerome K Jerome
- Carnac to Callanish by Aubrey Burl – this is a non-fiction work about the prehistoric stone rows
- Glencreggan by Cuthbery Bede – Cuthbert Bede was the pen name of Lincolnshire-based clergyman Edward Bradley, this travelogue describes his trips to the west of Scotland
My favourite word is…
Murmur
(Find the meaning in the Oxford English Dictionary)
My favourite book from my childhood was…
I tended to read a lot of non-fiction – anything I could get my hands on in the library – so I didn’t really have a favourite book. However, one book from childhood which I treasure – I still have it – is called Animals of the Riverbank. I won it in a competition for writing a short story titled “The Diary of an Unwanted Pet”.
The last thing I read before answering these questions was…
The letters I received from people asking for help to sort out various problems.
My favourite place to read would be…
In winter, in bed, cuddled up and cosy under the duvet. In summer, sitting in my garden on a warm sunny day – accompanied by a long, cool drink.
If I could only read one last thing in my life it would be…
For my mum’s 70th birthday I wrote a family history for her – our version of the TV show Who Do You Think You Are? I gathered old photos, letters and family stories. It is one-off and triggers so many treasured memories.