The 20 firsts meme

When I started blogging memes were all the rage. They are not so common these days, so it is quite nostalgic to be tagged for this one by Iain Dale.

First Job
A Saturday job at a gents outfitters when I was in the sixth form. Soon transferred to the secondhand book trade, which was more me.

First Real Job
Working for Chess magazine in Sutton Coldfield after leaving university.

First Role in Politics
Secretary of York Liberal Students, 1979-81.

First Car
I have never owned a car, but I do have a licence so I am a real man.

First Record
The first single I bought, age 7, was Kites by Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, which is pretty damned cool. I am less proud of my first LP - Band on the Run by Wings.

First Football Match
Hemel Hempstead Town vs Harwich & Parkeston in the Athenian League, c. 1968.

First Concert
My first pop concert must have been a freshers event at York. I can remember The Pirates, Bram Tchaikovsky and Mike Absalom playing.

First Country Visited
Holland and Belgium on a primary school trip in 1970.

First TV Appearance
Apart from being in the audience for the wrestling on World of Sport, it was winning the BBC East Joint Account quiz with my Mum in 1978.

First Political Speech
At my first meeting of Harborough District Council in 1986.

First Girlfriend/Boyfriend
Pauline Walker, when I was 4. She had an impressive collection of Kenny Ball EPs.

First Encounter with a Famous Person
Singing on the stage with Danny La Rue in one of his pantomimes, aged about 8. (For some reason there were not many children in the audience to ask up.)

First Brush With Death
Trying to swallow a threepenny bit as a toddler.

First House/Flat Owned
The one I am in now in Little Bowden, Market Harborough.

First Film Seen at a Cinema
I think it was Snow White.

First Time on the Radio
Interviewed for Radio 4 at the 1984 Liberal Assembly in Bournemouth.

First Politician I Met
John Farr, who used to be Tory MP for Harborough, once toured our school without talking to anyone. So it must have been Richard Wainwright and David Alton when I arranged for them to speak at York.

First Book I Remember Reading
Ladybird Key Words 1a: Play With Us.

First Visit to the London Palladium
That is a pleasure I still have in store.

Iain also asked me to tag five more bloggers to complete this meme. So...

• Niles's Blog
• Paint the Town Orange
• Stephen's Linlithgow Journal
• Himmelgarten Cafe
• Lavengro in Spain

It is traditional for at least some of those tagged to ignore the meme.